


All along the watchtower

by Bluebird2479



Series: Sweet Child O’mine [5]
Category: Captain America, Iron Man - Fandom, MCU, Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age of Ultron AU, Angst, Civil War AU, Domestic Avengers, Fluff, Good Dad Tony Stark, Iron Dad, Multi, Parent Tony Stark, Polyamory, Protective Tony Stark, Teen Avengers, Teenage Steve, Things are gonna change, Tony and Steve, Trans Steve, Winter Soldier AU, bad explanation of time travel, lots of changes, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2020-09-27 20:10:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 51,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20413603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluebird2479/pseuds/Bluebird2479
Summary: Tony lost his son to time and then got him back. Steve was forced in a time not his and survived, coming back to his father. But the threat that looms over their head is coming closer.The winter soldier, sokovia, the accords. Circumstances keep trying to force them apart, create differences.But what matters most is that they must stay together for in the end, the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.Tony just wants to have a peaceful life with his family, but responsibilities keep getting in the way.Steve wants to rediscover his place in the world, but the world won’t give him a break.Will they survive their inevitable doom, or will they emerge victorious?





	1. Come as you are

**Author's Note:**

> Things are going to gradually change from the original mcu storyline.  
So sorry for the delay you guys, just finished with my finals. I promise I’ll try to be more frequent from now.  
This chapter is a winter soldier au. Hope you like it

Tony was not sulking. He wasn’t, no matter what Pepper said. He was just slightly annoyed.

The day after Steve turned 18, he dropped the bombshell on Tony.

“Dad, I’m moving to DC.”

Tony was still not over that.

“We just moved to New York. Why do you want to move so suddenly?”

“Missions, Dad. You promised you’d let me go once I turned 18. DC is just closer to the Shield office.” He said

“You really wanna work with them?” Tony asked

“Peggy is still alive. Did you know that?”

He did. Growing up, Peggy Carter was Aunt Peggy to him. It was extremely weird finding out his son had a crush on his god mother.

But Tony also knew that Peggy had been one of the few people who helped Steve during the war.

“Are you moving to DC to be closer to her?” He asked

“She has Alzheimer’s. I wanna spend time with her while she still remembers me.” Steve said

Tony understood that. He really did. But he wasn’t ready to let go of Steve just yet. The six years they lost were still too fresh in his memory and the idea of Steve leaving again sent jolts of panic through Tony.

What if something went wrong and he wasn’t around to save his son?

“I don’t trust SHIELD.” Tony said

“Neither do I, to tell you the truth. But Peggy helped find SHIELD. That has to mean something right?”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.” Tony said

“Aren’t I always?”

“No.”

“So much faith, Thanks.”

That was two months ago. Now, Tony was offering tech support and overseeing a mission Steve and Natasha were leading along with a S.T.R.I.K.E team in the Indian Ocean.

A hostage situation aboard the Lemurian Star. Pirates.

Tony was in the tower, watching live footage of the whole op from small drones he’d sent to survey the situation.

He would’ve joined the mission himself, except Fury asked him to stay in New York so he could be called in for improvements on project insight.

Steve still didn’t know about that particular detail. Tony could almost imagine the righteous rant that would follow when he did find out.

He would explain his reasons later, now he had to mission to oversee.

“Mr. Stark what’s the status on the hostages?” Steve’s voice came through the comms. Aside from the agents on Fury’s crew who were present that day, no one else knew that Steve was Tony’s son, and they decided it was better to keep it that way.

The heat signatures placed them on the galley, just like Rumlow said

“They’re in the galley alright. Guards around them and above the deck. 25 pirates.” He said

“Got it. Okay listen up..”

Steve gave instructions to the rest of the team in typical captain manner

“...and Iron Man, send in drones to monitor the hostages. Try to find the leader, batroc and tell me.”

“Aye Aye captain.” Tony said

“Did you have fun Saturday night?” Natasha asked Steve

He made some quip about his barbershop quartet being dead. Tony rolled his eyes

“So dramatic. What about your school friends.”

Tony saw Steve’s reaction from the cameras. He grimaced at Nat, looking around to see if the others reaction. Not many SHIELD officers knew just how young he was.

“Everyone’s off to college.” He answered brusquely

Tony felt a pang if regret. He had really hoped that after school, Steve would realise he had other options and maybe try out college. He was still so young, and he had so many opportunities.

But Steve was adamant about going back.

“It’s the only thing I know how to do anymore dad. I can’t just sit back and do nothing when people need my help.”

Tony knew that of course, but you can’t blame him for hoping.

“You know Kristen from statistics, she’d say yes if you ask.” Natasha was saying

“That’s why I don’t ask.” Steve said

“Really Romanoff? Trying to set my kid up on a date with someone ten years older than him?” Tony asked.

Natasha ignored Tony

“Too shy or too scared?”

“Too busy.” Steve answered and he-

He jumped out of the jet.

Into the god damn ocean.

Without a PARACHUTE!!

“Are you out of your damn mind!” Tony hissed

Steve swam out of the water and got onto the deck. Even a year ago, getting into water sent Steve into a panic attack. Now, he was nosediving into an ocean out of a jet.

Tony was proud of how far his son had come.

He was not happy with what he just did.

“You gotta admit I looked cool.” Steve said as he deftly took on multiple guards, knocking them out without anyone raising an alarm.

Rumlow , Natasha and the rest of the team enter the deck

“What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice.” Natasha told Steve.

Tony knows he wasn’t imaging the cheeky look she shot at one of the drones flying nearby. Nope. She did that just to annoy him.

“Secure the engine room, then find me a date.” Steve said without so much as looking at her

“I’m multitasking.”

“Why are you so invested in his dating life?” Tony asked her through a private comm

Natasha quickly moved to her position

“He needs a life beyond missions. His friends are off to college, he’s lonely.” She said

“He’s got me!” Tony protested“Theres a pirate on your three Rumlow.”

“You’re like 40 years old. He needs someone who won’t smother him all the time.”

“ I don’t smother him.”

“Dad what’s going on in the galley? I think I heard shouting.” Steve’s voice interrupted them

“Oh yeah. Um...if my French is correct, then one of the guys wants to start sending bodies to force SHIELD to pay up.”

He watched Natasha shoot several of the pirates while swinging down the deck.

Pepper entered the room, standing next to Tony.

“How are you holding up?” She asked, staring at Steve on the camera feed

Tony grunted in response

“Steve, the pirate wants to wait another two minutes for batroc. After that, he’s gonna start shooting the hostages.” Tony said, after listening to the pirate

“Steve’s first mission since the battle of New York.” Pepper started “He seems to be taking care of himself.”

“He jumped off the jet without a parachute.” Tony grumbled

Pepper blinked, opening her mouth to say something and then closing it again. She let out and exasperated sigh

“Of course he did.”

“I really hope Morgan’s not like him.” Tony murmured

Pepper rubbed her belly absentmindedly

“Wishful thinking Tony.” She said, sighing.

“Natasha what’s your status?” Steve was asking

“Engine room secure.” She replied

“Everyone’s in positions.” Tony said

“On my mark. 3,2,1”

They started shooting and Rumlow entered, saving the hostages.

Steve burst into the control room, but Batroc escaped before he could catch him.

Tony had programmed a drone to follow Steve specifically( his son would probably be pissed if he found out). He was so focused on Steve he hadn’t noticed Natasha was missing.

“Where’s Natasha?” Pepper asked, scanning the different feeds

“What the hell? She missed her rendezvous point.”

Rumlow told Steve the exact same thing

“D- Stark can you find her?”

“She’s not anywhere the drones are positioned.” Tony said

Before Steve could say anything else, Batroc attacked him.

Tony watched them fight on the deck. He knew batroc was no match for Steve, but the guy was holding on his own pretty well.

He started taunting Steve

“I thought you were more than just a shield.” Pepper translated out loud

Steve strapped his shield to his back and took off his helmet

“On va voir.” He said

“Let’s see? LETS SEE?!!” Tony shouted incredulously

Pepper put a comforting hand on Tony’s shoulder as they watched his brave but dumbass son fight the pirate with his bare hands.

He kicked batroc, smashing him through a room.

Tony briefly missed what happened as the drone took a moment to enter the room.

“You jeopardised the whole mission.” Steve was holding Natasha’s arm

Judging by the drive in her hand, Tony could tell what happened

“That’s overstating things.”

Batroc got up and threw a grenade at the two. Tony barely had time to caution them before Steve lifted his shield, grabbing Natasha and flinging them both across a window

“Okay that ones on me.” She said, wincing in pain

“You’re damn right.” Steve retorted

“SHIELD intel?” Tony asked her

“I just lost his trust didn’t I?” She asked. She actually cared about that.

“He’s not like me, all those high principles and morals. He’ll get around though, so don’t worry.” Tony said

“Besides, he likes you. You’re his friend.” Pepper added

Natasha’s expression changed at that.

She got up and dusted herself before making sure the drive was still okay in her hand

“I don’t think someone like Steve could ever be friends with someone like me.”

Tony sighed. He recognised the self hatred in her voice, so similar to what he felt all the time. He wished he could say something to comfort her, be he had nothing.

Natasha met with the others and they all boarded the jet with the hostages.

“You know it’s not her fault. She was just following orders.” Tony told Steve a couple of hours later.

“Peoples lives were on line and she was more worried about intel.” Steve said, annoyed. “But you’re right, she was following orders. I’m going to talk to the guy who gave them.”

“You’re gonna confront Fury?”

“I’ll talk to you later dad.” Steve cut the call

Tony sat down on the couch, worried. He hadn’t told Steve about project insight, not that he himself knew much about it. If Fury decided to disclose that information, Steve would definitely not agree.

When Fury asked Tony to help them install repulsor tech into their hellicarriers, he wasn’t all for the idea. After SHIELD tried to use the tesseract to build weapons, Tony didn’t trust them.

But what he saw in space still haunted him. Fury wanted to be prepared for the unknown, and Tony secretly agreed.

That didn’t mean he completely agreed with SHIELDS methods and refused to provide them with weaponry. The tech he offered was purely defensive, not offensive. The repulsor engines provided Continuous suborbital flight.

He didn’t know what exactly they needed that for but he wasn’t stupid, it was only a matter of time before he hacked into their databases and found out if it was something they needed to stop.

He decided to check up on Pepper while he waited for Steve’s inevitable phone call.

“Baby’s kicking again?” He asked her when he reached their room to find her on the bed clutching her belly, face scrunched up in pain.

“She seems really restless these days.” Pepper replied, grunting when the baby kicked again.

“Can’t say I blame her. It must be getting tight in there.” Tony put his hand in Peppers stomach, slowly rubbing it to calm Morgan.

Pepper sighed in relief when she stopped kicking.

“I can’t wait for her to come. I’m tired of being pregnant.” She whined

Tony chuckled and moved behind her to massage her shoulders. She instinctively leaned into his touch, some of the tension leaving her muscles.

“Something’s bothering you isn’t it?” Pepper asked

“No, of course not. Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been avoiding the lab, which is so not you. Obviously you’re afraid of finding something there you won’t like, but you’re putting off the inevitable. So, what is it?”She turned to face him

Tony stared at her, dumbstruck

“How do you do that?”

She smirked at him. He sighed and leaned forward to rest his head on her lap, propping his feet up on the bed. Pepper carded her fingers through his hair, waiting for his answer.

“Something’s coming Pep. Something big. Whatever it is has been messing with my life since Steve was sent back in time.” He started

“I thought the rest of the avengers were keeping an eye out for the stones?” She said

“They’re trying, but everyone has busy schedules. Thor’s the only one that’s making a serious effort but it’s not gonna be enough.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Whatever-whoever is after the stones is dangerous. The future is bleak enough that some sorcerer thought it was worth risking the time space continuum to prevent that from happening. It’s an end of the world level threat.”

“Aren’t all threats regarding the Avengers end of the world level?” Pepper asked dryly

Tony pursed his lips

“Yes but some threats are too big for us to stop. It’s not enough to prepare for a fight, we need to prevent it all together.” He said

“And how can we stop a threat if we don’t know what it is?” She asked

“If we could somehow place a defensive barrier, some kind of evolutionary technology that can determine any hostile being and eliminate it before it can enter the earths atmosphere. I’ve been getting ideas for something like that-I don’t know, it could be dangerous. But I truly believe that’s our best bet.”

“An evolutionary technology- kinda like a shield around the world?” She asked slowly

“Yes! Exactly, a shield. That’s a good thing right?” He exclaimed, sitting up straight to see her expression.

Pepper seemed to be considering her answer before she sighed and said

“It sounds impossible, but given what our lives have been these past few years, nothing seems impossible anymore. But like you said, it also sounds dangerous. How would you even do this?” She asked

“I was working on reconfiguring JARVIS. I don’t know Pepper, it’s all still confusing.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck

“I don’t know what you saw that scared you so much but if you say it’s bad, I believe you. But I don’t think it’s wise to make decisions like this without consulting others first. If this project of yours goes sideways, it could lead to serious repercussions.” Pepper reasoned

Tony was too tired to argue about that now. Besides, he was worried about Steve and the Lab was supposed to distract him from that.

“Any decision you want to make, remember you’re not alone in this. Tony, it’s not your responsibility to save everyone.” Pepper said, resting a hand on hand on how cheek. Tony kissed her palm before pressing a lingering kiss on her forehead

“You’re right, like always. I have work to do.” He said, getting up

“What work?”

“Some of the Chitauri tech was left over after the battle of New York. Most of it is accounted for but some residual weaponry could be left in random places all over the city. I’m running a database using the footage from the battle to see if we can find them.” He explained

“Okay then, shoo. Go do your thing.” She said, waving her hand at him

Tony winked at her and made his way to the elevator.

He barely stepped out before his phone rang.

“Done going all high and mighty over Fury’s ass?” He asked

“Did you know about project insight?” Steve asked, sounding pissed.

Tony groaned internally.

“I knew a little, but I don’t know what it is exactly.”

“Well Fury just showed me.” He stared

He didn’t have to hack into SHIELD after all

“So? What is it?”

“Project Insight is three huge helicarriers equipped with guns that can eliminate a thousand hostiles per minute. Thanks to you’re repulsor tech, they never have to come down.” Steve spat

Tony winced. He could only imagine his sons reaction to the plan he just told Pepper about.

“Like I said, I didn’t know what they were using it for.”

Besides, was it so bad shield wanted to make sure they could prevent a crime before it happened?

“Dad they’re holding a gun at everyone on earth and calling it protection.” Steve said

Okay when you put it like that, it sounds bad.

“What do you want to do about it?” He asked

Steve sighed

“I - I don’t know dad.” He sounded so lost when he said that, Tony felt his heart clench. No matter what, Steve only wanted to do what was right. That’s all there was to him.

“Listen, I gotta go. I need to clear my mind for a bit. I’ll call you later okay?”

“Okay Piccolo. Be safe, no funny business.” Tony cut the call and sat down on his chair.

Obviously Steve wasn’t as adjusted as he pretended to be. There were so many things still bothering him but he refused to get help. Sure he told Tony a lot of stuff but he wasn’t a professional.

Sighing, Tony went back to doing what he’d come down to do.

—————

Steve needed to go meet Peggy but he was stalling. It was still hard to see her like that, old and frail and two seconds from dying.

He didn’t know what he’d do if-when she died.

He walked into the Smithsonian and into the Captain America exhibit.

Seriously, who’s idea was it to put this in the air and space museum. The one time he flew a plane he crashed it into the sea.

Natasha made a million jokes about that already. Clint wasn’t any better.

He was glad all the pictures of him here were with his cowl on, nobody recognised him.

He didn’t know why he was here. Maybe he hoped he could find a bit of himself, who he was supposed to be?

It didn’t make sense.

When Steve was sent back in time, he woke up in an era that wasn’t his. It was hard to adjust but at least he knew he wasn’t home.

Then he woke up from the ice and he was back in his own timeline. Except he wasn’t.

It was like everything was the same, but nothing was. Like an illusion or a facade.

For starters his mom was dead. He knew that already but it wasn’t real until he saw her grave.

No one remembered what the world had been like before he was sent back in time, except for him. His city was three times bigger than he remembered, people who were supposed to be dead were alive, thethreat he spent his entire childhood fearing and what made his father hide his very existence was simply...gone.

Everything had changed.

He couldn’t help but wonder if maybe his father changed too.

Obviously the six years he was gone had changed Tony a lot, inevitability so. And they shared the same memories as far as he could tell.

But it still nagged him sometimes. The lingering doubts were eating away at whatever semblance of peace he’d managed to conjure.

He didn’t know where he belonged anymore, and the museum was only reminding him of that.

The picture of Bucky overwhelmed him with grief. It was too much.

A recording of Peggy was being played. She was talking about him, about how he changed her life.

“...He saved over a thousand men, including the man who would...who would become my husband as it turned out. Even after he died, Steve was still changing my life.”

She had gotten married, moved on.

If things were different, he knew he still didn’t have a chance with her. Steve was only 16 when they met and besides, he was-still is in love with Bucky.

But none of that changed the fact that a part of him loved her too, and she would always be one of the most important people in his life.

He got on his bike and drove to Peggy’s.

Despite being sick and bedridden, despite her age, her eyes never lost that sharpness to them. She was still his Peggy. His best girl.

The life she lived made him happy. She found a family, found a purpose. She dedicated her life to helping people.

He was proud of her.

She sensed something was nagging him and asked him what it was.

“For as long as I can remember I just wanted to do what was right. I guess I'm not quite sure what that is anymore. And I thought I could throw myself back in and follow orders, serve. It's just not the same.”

She chuckled. Listening to her laugh made him feel better somehow.

“You’re always so dramatic. Look, you saved the world. We rather...mucked it up.”

“You didn't. Knowing that you helped found SHIELD is half the reason I stayed.” Steve said earnestly

She took his hand

“I know who you are Steve. Nick told me, Tony talked about you. It is rather odd knowing the child my godson told me about is you, but I must say I’m not all that surprised.”

“You know about the time travel? Wait dad told you about me?” Steve asked, taken aback

“He told me about you when you were born. He never could introduce us.” She said

There was the change he was talking about. In his timeline, Peggy Carter wasn’t Tony’s godmother. She had been killed by Hydra before his father was even born.

It was messing with his head.

“I understand you’re stuck somewhere in the past and the future. But the truth is The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best, and sometimes the best that we can do is to start over.”

She started coughing and Steve immediately got up to get her a glass of water.

“Peggy?”

She looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time.

“Steve? You're alive! You...you came, you came back!”

Steve felt something in him crack as he put on a fake smile

“Yeah Peggy.” He said quietly

“It's been so long. So long.” She cried

“Well, I couldn't leave my best girl. Not when she owes me a dance.”

—————

Tony called Nick Fury to confront him about Project Insight.

“You hacked into our systems again?” Fury asked furiously

“Steve told me and yes, I did hack into you’re databases.” Tony said while he opened up holographic images of the helicariers

“Your son already lectured me about the morally ambiguous nature of the project so any lecture on your side you can shove it up your-“

“I called to tell you there’s something wrong.” Tony interjected

Fury paused

“What do you mean?”

“Did you ever pause to consider what would happen if the controls for this project fell into the wrong hands?”

“This is a highly classified SHIELD operation-“

“And it took me ten minutes to hack into it. I’m me, so I’ll admit it’s not as easy for anyone else. But it’s safe to say somebody can.” Tony pointed

“Once they’re in the sky it’s impossible to override the access.” Fury said

“But you can choose different targets? Fury, something’s definitely off about this whole thing. You must’ve noticed it too.”

Fury remained silent but that was all Tony needed to know he was right

“You suspect something don’t you?”

“I’ll talk to Senetor Pierce about it.” Fury said gruffly and cut the call.

————-

Tony was expecting this call. He knew Steve was supposed to meet Peggy that day. It hurt to listen to his son after these meetings, like a part of Steve was breaking all over again.

Tony himself had visited his godmother several times but these meetings between her and Steve were private. Tony didn’t want to intrude in that.

But Steve always called when he was done.

“Hey kiddo.” Tony greeted

“17 minutes.” Steve replied in a forlorn voice

Tony sighed. Last time she lasted almost half an hour before she forgot everything. Peggy’s deteriorating condition was hitting Steve hardly.

“Maybe you should head over to New York for a while. It’s been so long and Peppers asking for you.” Tony said

“I was there for dinner last week.” Steve said dryly

“Then you can come for dinner again. Where are you now?”

“I was talking to a friend of mine. Met him while I was on my morning run.”

“A new friend huh? What’s his name?”

“Sam Wilson. Works at the VA.”

A veteran. Tony was hoping Steve would hang out more with kids his age, but maybe this Wilson guy would help him.

”You’re always asking me to talk to someone and Sam, he gets it dad. He knows what war is like. He lost his partner too.” Steve said, his voice cracking

“If he’s helping you then I’m happy you found him. Something else is bothering you Steve. What happened?” Tony asked

Steve hesitated for a moment

“I asked Sam if-if he was happy right now. Out of the battle field, no one left to give you orders. He said yes, he was happy doing whatever he wanted to and said I could do that too. He asked me what made me happy and I- I don’t know dad. I couldn’t answer.” Steve admitted

Tony sighed, dragging a palm over his face. He knew that despite everything, Steve felt extremely lonely sometimes. Like he didn’t belong here.

For the millionth time, Tony wished he could’ve done something to prevent the time travel and give his child the normal, sane life he deserved.

It still angered him that Steve had to go through war and loss and pain at such a young age. It was unfair that the burden of saving everyone had been thrown on him.

“Come home Piccolo. We’ll talk more when you get here.” Tony said

“Okay.” Steve said softly

Tony hadn’t expected him to agree so easily. That told him just how hurt Steve was.

“Pack a bag. I’m not letting you leave for at least a week. Besides, you promised to complete the nursery.” Tony said

Steve chuckled weakly and promised he’d start as soon as he was done packing.

Tony cut the call and went upstairs to tell Pepper.

——————-

Tony called Nick Fury for the seventh time and was getting increasingly frustrated as he didn’t answer.

JARVIS alerted him about the ambush on Fury’s car and he understood why.

Some mysterious man blew up Fury’s car but the man himself had escaped.

Immediately, he switched on the security footage near Steve’s apartment. If anyone attacked Fury in broad daylight in the middle of the road, what’s to say they won’t target Captain America?

The camera feed showed the inside of Steve’s living room. His son let Tony install those cameras on the one condition that Tony wouldn’t look at them unless it was a life or death situation.

This qualified as one right?

The apartment was swathed in darkness so Tony couldn’t quite tell if anyone was inside.

There was a faint outline of someone sitting on one of the chairs.

He called Steve

“Where are you?”

“I’m uh- I’m climbing the fire escape.”Steve whispered through a comm

“What? Why- never mind. There’s someone in your apartment.”

Steve groaned “The cameras? Ugh! I know someone’s inside, that’s why I’m going in through the window.”

“I was gonna tell you to get away from there but obviously that’s useless.” Tony said

“I’m getting in now.” Steve whispered

Tony saw the footage of Steve slowly walking into the living room with his Shield in hand.

“Fury? I don’t remember giving you a key.” Steve said, sounding annoyed

Fury in Steve’s apartment. Great. Just great.

They had some conversation that Tony barely followed. Instead, he zoomed in on Fury to get a better look at him.

Steve turned on the light and Fury’s injuries came into view.

Before Steve could say anything, Fury stopped him and typed something on his phone.

‘Ears everywhere’ and then he typed

‘SHIELD compromised.’

Tony swore under his breath. He knew some thing was wrong.

SHIELD compromised. That meant someone else had the reins over project insight.

All their secrets and the avengers locations. Everything was in the hands of someone else. Someone bad.

Gunshots ring through the apartment and Fury is shot three times.

“Steve get out of there!” Tony exclaimed

Steve’s neighbour burst into the apartment, holding out a gun. She turned out to be a SHIELD agent, assigned by Fury to watch over Steve.Judging by Steve’s angry expression, he obviously didn’t know about that. Tony did. Agent Sharon carter was Peggy’s niece, he trusted her.

Tony saw the shooter from one of the camera feeds.

“Steve he’s still outside.” Tony warned

“I’m in pursuit.” Steve said and smashed through his freaking window and chased after the shooter. Because smashing through windows is what sane people did right? Ugh!

“JARVIS don’t lose him.” Tony commanded as JARVIS quickly pulled up different street cameras to follow Steve.

He was chasing the shooter on the roof and it was hard to get a proper visual on either of them. But the shooter seemed to have a...metal arm?

Steve caught up with him and flung his shield at the guy. Tony almost whooped because a hit like that took down the best of assassins.

Except, the shooter swiftly caught the shield.That was impossible.

He threw the shield back to Steve who caught it, staring dumbstruck at the man.

————

“JARVIS get a jet ready, I’m flying to DC.” Tony said

“What happened?” Pepper asked as she watched Tony change into his suit

“Fury’s been shot. SHIELD compromised.” Tony stated “Steve’s not gonna come home now, I need to be where I can protect him.”

Pepper nodded “Bring him back safe.”

“I love you.” He said and kissed her.

When Tony arrived at the Hospital, Fury was already dead.

“I’m sorry kid.” He told Natasha and hugged her

She leaned into his embrace, sniffling again this shoulder.

Tony knew Nat was close to Fury, the latter being something like a father figure to her. It hurt to see her like that.

“Do you know where Steve is?” He asked her when she pulled back

“He was called in for questioning. He was the last person to see Steve alive.” She said impassively

Tony considered telling her about what he saw in the video footage but decided against it. He needed to talk about that to Steve first.

He turned on his comm link, knowing Steve always had his comm with him at a time like this.

“Steve, I’m at the hospital. Where are you?” Tony asked

“I’m at the triskelion. Pierce wanted to meet me about Fury’s death.” He replied

“What did he want?”

“He asked me why Fury was in my apartment.”

“You didn’t tell him did you?” Tony asked, sighing

“Don’t trust anyone. Those were his last words to me.” Steve said, “I just left his office. Operations control.” He told the elevator

Tony distinctly heard the computerised voice confirm the command.

Tony wanted to ask Steve about the flash drive he saw Fury hand over to him just before he died, but before he could, he heard the chatter as more agents must’ve entered the elevator with Steve.

For reasons he can’t explain, Tony felt a sense of foreboding set in his gut.

“Steve basically told pierce to shove it up his ass when asked for information on Fury, is it stupid to hope they take no for an answer and leave it?” Tony asked Natasha

She gave him an exasperated look

“Steve’s definitely in trouble.”

Tony immediately pulled up the SHIELD system he’d previously hacked into and saw a mission assigned to Rumlow’s STRIKE team to immediately detain Captain Rogers.

“If Rumlow is in the elevator with you than you need to find a way out.” Tony said into his comms

Steve didn’t respond. Instead he spoke to the people in the elevator with him.

“Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?”

Natasha has connected her comm to Steve’s as well and heard what he said too. She and Tony stared a look that was one part worried and one part completely done with Steve’s shit.

Although Natasha looked slightly impressed as well. Tony was pure irritated. Did he have to challenge them?

Tony didn’t stop to think, he was running outside and the suit had attacked itself to him by the time he was out of the doors and he was flying in seconds.

A few more minutes and he’d reach the triskelion.

“J, I want footage of that elevator.” Tony commanded

It took a few minutes but JARVIS managed to open it and tony looked at the small screen that opened up in the corner of the HUD.

Looked like the agents were trying to pin Steve to the wall but they were no match for him. They had stun batons and some sort of electromagnetic cuff, so they really meant to detain himand not kill.

Steve had something they needed. The flash drive.

“I just want you to know cap, this ain’t personal.” Rumlow was saying

He attacked Steve with his electric rod and Tony almost shouted in anger. Steve knock Rumlow against the roof of the elevator and knock him out.

“It kind of feels personal.” He spat at the unconscious agents before kicking his shield back onto his arm.

As worried as he was Tony had to admit, watching his son fight was a thing of art.

There were agents waiting outside the elevator for Steve.

“I’m almost there. ETA 3 minutes. Just hold on.” Tony said

“No dad! Don’t. You can’t be seen helping me. No one here knows I’m your son, those who do are loyal to Fury and were sworn to secrecy.”

“So what? I’m just supposed to watch?”

“No. I’ll get out of here, meet me near the hospital, I need to go back for the drive. If you help me now, you’ll be a fugitive too.” Steve said “you won’t be helpful if SHIELD is hunting down you too.”

Tony huffed. He hated it, but had to agree

“How will you get out of the elavator?”Tony asked

“Uh- dad? I’m 18 now, so you can’t ground me right?” Steve asked

“Why?” Tony asked suspiciously

He arrived a little distance from the Triskelion just into time to-

To see Steve crash out of the ELAVATOR and Free fall FORTY GODDAMN FLOORS to the ground.

Tony felt his heart skip a beat. Or few. He was pretty sure he was going into cardiac arrest.

Tony couldn’t even go closer to make sure Steve was alright. A few minutes later, he saw Steve riding out of the garage in his motorbike.

A jet attacked him but Steve jumped onto it and dismantled the whole thing in seconds using just his shield before tony could even consider helping.

He was still finding it a little difficult to breathe.

“Hey dad.” Came Steve’s sheepish voice

‘What the actual fuck were you thinking? Jumping from a building like that. Are you out of you’re goddamn mind? This is insane. Like were even thinking, or did you just jump and hope for the best?’

He wanted to say all that but couldn’t because he was still too busy remembering to breathe.

“Dad? I’m okay, I promise. It looks worse than it was I swear. The fall wasn’t even that hard.”

That snapped him out of his shock.

“Not that hard huh? Really. Of course not, a walk in the park. I mean you had you’re whole shield to cushion your fall right? Of course it wasn’t that bad. Not like you jumped out of a building or anything.” Tony ranted

“I get it you’re mad. Please can we focus on SHIELD for now? We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”

Tony breathed harshly for a few seconds, trying to compose himself. He tracked Steve’s comm and found where he was going.

“I’ll meet you at the hospital.” He said gruffly and started flying off

“Okay.”

————

Tony made it there and found Natasha waiting for him.

“He’s coming back for this?” She asked, showing him the flash drive.

Tony grunted in response.

“I saw what he did by the way.” She said in an understanding voice.

Over the years, Tony and Natasha has grown quite close. Ever since they named her Morgan’s godmother, Natasha put in more effort to spend time with him and his family.

So anytime Tony was worried about Steve, Natasha was one of the people he went to.

“How did he know he’d survive that? Even the serum has limits and one day, it won’t be able to keep him alive.” Tony stated his worst fear out loud.

Natasha had a strained look in her eyes.

“Well, he’s beat all the odds before. We just gotta hope he continues to do that.” She said

“Hope.” Tony scoffed “you don’t believe that either.”

“No I don’t. But with Steve, that’s the best we can do.”

Natasha popped some bubble gum in her mouth and offered some to Tony.

“He put the drive in the vending machine didn’t he?” He asked her

“Yup.”

“Do you know what’s in there?” He asked

“No. Nick asked me to save the intel on the ship. He was the one who hired the pirates in the first place.” She confessed

Tony sighed “I’m not even surprised at this point.”

“You can’t be seen with us. Steve and I can remain conspicuous but you’re too recognisable Tony.” She said

“SHIELD is after Steve. And I don’t think for one second they’re gonna keep him alive once they get what they want.” Tony said

“SHIELD is no match for him. But I promise you Tony, I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe.” Natasha said. If anyone else said that, Tony wouldn’t believe them. But this was Natasha and he trusted her with his life, even if Steve didn’t.

JARVIS sent an emergency alert to his phone and Tony was startled out of his thoughts.

“What the...?” Tony muttered as he checked his phone.

“Sir its quite important, I suggest you find somewhere private so I can relay the information.” JARVIS said through his comm.

“I’ll be right back. Call me if Steve comes.” He told Natasha.

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask anything as he walked away.

“Okay J, I’m alone. Hit me, what’ve you got.”

“You started a database to search for remaining Chittauri tech, remember sir?”

“That’s the emergency? Come on J-“

“While viewing the battle footage I found something else instead.” JARVIS interrupted and pulled out a video.

It was footage from the battle alright, but it was farther from the tower where the crux of the fight was going on. Instead, it showed a three storey brownstone townhouse.

“What do you want me to see J?” Tony asked

“Look closer sir, there appears to be something disruptive around the house. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the building is cloaking itself from technology.”

Frowning, tony got into an empty room and locked the door behind him. Sitting down on one of the chairs, he expanded the video to create a holographic image of the building.

And sure enough, he could see the energy waves against the outline of the townhouse.

“What the?” Tony muttered

“That’s not all sir”

The angle changed to show the show a different building. The roof of the townhouse was visible from this angle. At first, tony didn’t see anything but then, he looked closer and saw something really strange.

The chitauri aliens were trying to attack the building but were getting blasted out of the sky before they could come close. A person in yellow robes seemed to be standing on the roof, calmly blasting the aliens with their...hands?

Someone was on that roof, but Tony couldn’t see who.

“Where is this place JARVIS?” Tony asked

“I can’t pin down the location sir, but it definitely is in New York.”

“That parts obvious. This person is a sorcerer of some sort, you sure that’s not Amora?” He asked

“As far as I can tell Amora was in Las Vegas at that time tricking men in Casinos into gambling their freedom to her. Besides, if Amora was in New York at the same time as Thor surely she would try to torment him. Not to mention her spat with Loki meaning she wouldn’t dare come to the city where he was.” JARVIS reasoned

“Then who-? No way.” Tony exclaimed as realisation dawned on him “Could this be the sorcerer who sent Steve back in time. He has one of the stones doesn’t he?”

“It also explains why the aliens are targeting that specific building. Whoever sent Loki with that army must have known this stone was in New York along with the tessaract.” JARVIS supplied

“Of course. JARVIS we need to find that building. Try to find other pictures of other buildings beside this one, maybe we can find the address if we recognise the surroundings.”

“I’ve already tried that sir.” JARVIS pulled up various pictures of the townhouse from different days

“It’s the same house but the surrounding keep changing.” He said

Tony swore. This made locating the place next to impossible. The only option he’d have was personally flying over the city and checking every building. He planned on doing exactly that if he had to.

But the changing surroundings only confirmed his suspicions. If anyone knew anything about the stones, it had to be that person on the roof.

Besides, he had a lot to answer for. Like sending a child to fight in the war. Tony’s been wanting to get his hands on that man for a while now.

He was going to get his answers. No matter what.


	2. Dazed and Confused

Tony got out of the room to find the corridor empty, no sign of Natasha. When he reached the vending machine, he heard voices from the opposite room.

“Steve! I taught you better than to treat a girl like that.” Tony chided when he opened the door to find Natasha pinned against the wall and Steve looming rather threateningly over her.

“The drive was missing when I got here and I panicked, sorry.” He mumbled to Natasha, letting go of her.

“I’ll let it slide this time. Like I said, we know who killed Fury-“

“Wait, you know who that shooter with the metal arm is?” Tony asked

Natasha nodded and told him what she told Steve.

“The winter soldier.” Tony mused

“Do you know him?” Steve asked

“No. But I think I read a file on him in SHEILD systems. If SHIELD thought he didn’t exist, why would they have a file on him? Better yet, why wouldn’t they believe a threat like that existed? _You_ were on SHIELDS threat list” Tony said pointing to Steve “Why not this guy? Why brush him off as a ghost story?”

“You think the winter soldier works for whoever infiltrated Hydra. Which means _SHIELD_ ordered Nick Fury’s death.” Natasha said angrily

“That’s a possibility we’ll have to consider.” Tony finished

Steve twirled the drive between his fingers.

“Well if that’s the case, then let’s go see what the ghost wants.”

“Steve if what we’re saying is true then the literal government is now the enemy.” Tony pointed out fearfully.

“That makes this whole thing all the more important. Dad I’ve seen what the Nazis and hydra had done, it’s not something we can let happen again, ever!”

“I’m coming with you.” Tony said

“No. Dad I already told you, you can’t be compromised as well. Right now they don’t suspect you but they will. Besides, we’re a lot less conspicuous without you.”

Natasha gave him a look that said _‘I told you so’_ and Tony discreetly flipped her off.

“Fine. But I need you to keep me informed. Oh and I will be keeping a eye on you, don’t think I won’t.” Tony said pointing a finger at Steve. “You’re in charge by the way. Try to keep my lunatic alive.” He told Natasha who grinned smugly at Steve.

“You’re never gonna let me live this one down are you?” Steve asked her

“Nope. I’m officially your baby sitter. The rest of the team is gonna get such a kick out of this.”

Steve groaned and shot a glare at Tony

“This is your fault, how could you betray me like that?” He asked

“How could you jump off a building like that?” Tony shot back.

“Fine! You have every right to be angry. Now we need to leave fast.” He told Natasha

Tony hugged Steve before he could leave

“I mean it kid, be careful.”

“I’ll try dad.”

Tony sighed, that’s the best deal he could get from his son.

‘He gets that from you Sarah.’ Tony thought.

————

Tony returned to the tower and immediately started looking for the house. Actually, he got JARVIS to track Steve and Natasha first and then got to work finding the mysterious sorcerer.

It was proving to be harder than he thought. He wanted to go out and scale the city with the suit but was reluctant to leave, in case Steve needed him.

Currently, Steve and Natasha were in a mall, heading to a Mac store.

“I could’ve decrypted that drive myself.” Tony grumbled

“_The drive has a Level Six homing program, so as soon as we boot up SHIELD will know exactly where we are. We can’t risk them coming after you._” Natasha said

“I could handle them.” Tony grumbled

“_Do you need a repeat of the mandarin? Pepper will kill you this time_.”

“_How much time do we have_?” Steve asked as Natasha popped the drive in one of the computers.

“_About nine minutes from...now. Fury was right about that ship, somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI, it keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands.”_

“_Can you override it?_” Steve kept glancing around nervously, expecting to be attacked any moment.

“_The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly._” Natasha added

“Bet you wish I was there now don’t you?” Tony asked smugly through the comms

Natasha glared at the nearest camera, knowing full well he was watching.

“Sir you may want to see this.” JARVIS interrupted

Tony turned to check another screen behind him where JARVIS pulled up several pictures of the house. Tony had asked to outline any common factor in each picture and JARVIS seemed to have found one.

“The sign board isn’t changing? Why didn’t I see that before?”

“_I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from._” Natasha was saying

Tony was trying to figure out the street from the half visible sign board when Natasha said in an creepily cheery voice,

“_Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations_.”

Huh?

“_Yeah, we’re getting married.”_ Steve said awkwardly

“Whoa, you two had better not be eloping-“ Tony swiveled around to see the two of them talking to some guy. “So that was just an act?” He asked

Both Steve and Natasha shot himpeeved looks through the camera.

Once the guy walked away, Steve looked at the destination the signal was coming from.

“_You know that place_?”

“_Used to._”

“Where is it? You better send me the location.” Tony warned

“_What if the phone is traced?”_ Steve asked

“SHIELD can’t trace stark phones, especially not the one I made for you. Send the location, now.”

“_Okay. Just promise not to follow us there. Iron Man will look extremely out of place over an army camp._” Steve said

“Army camp? Camp Lehigh?” Tony asked

“_Yup. We better leave._” Steve told Natasha

They walked quickly from the store. Steve noticed the SHIELD agents the same time Tony did.

_“Standard tac-team. Two behind, to across, two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro._” He told Natasha, preparing to fight them.

“No don’t engage, evade.” Tony said the same time Natasha said

“_Shut up and put your arm around me, laugh at something I said._”

“_What?_” Steve asked.

Tony let out a long suffering sigh. With Steve it was always fight or flight, subtlety did not come easily to him.

“_Do it_.” Natasha said urgently

Steve put his arm around her and ducked his head, laughing in an obviously fake way.

“I knew leaving her in charge was smart.” Tony grumbled

Steve searched for the nearest camera and flipped him off.

“Show some respect. Jeez, kids these day. Besides, why did you think a hat and glasses made a good disguise?” He asked

“_The guy at the store though Steve looked like him with the glasses_.” Natasha quipped

“_That was you._” Steve said

The pair were making there way done the elevator. Unfortunately, Rumlow was going up and would spot them, any minute now.

“Rumlow’s coming up, he’ll see you.” Tony warned

Natasha turned around to face Steve

“_Kiss me._” She said

“_What?_” Steve and Tony exclaimed at the same time

“_Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable_.” Natasha explained

“_Yes they do_.” Steve said

Natasha pulled Steve’s head towards her and kissed him.

“That’s not gonna work, Rumlow isn’t some middle school kid- oh look at that, it worked. He turned away.” Tony amended, “Really? Some agents.”

“_You still uncomfortable?_”she asked

“_It's not exactly the word I would use.”_

If Tony didn’t know any better, he’d say they were both affected by that kiss. Natasha was steadily avoiding Steve’s eye while Steve himself couldn’t stop blushing.

Was it possible they felt something for each other?

——————-

“_We’re driving to the camp dad. We’re turning off the comms for now. I’ll call again when we get there.”_ Steve said.

Tony waited impatiently for Steve to call him again. He kept checking the tracker, they were still on the road.

“You know, pacing like that won’t make this go faster.” Rhodey commented. He had come down to the lab an hour ago to give him some company, so far all he’d done was annoy Tony by being extremely...logical.

“I should be helping them, instead I’m stuck here.” Tony groaned

“Are you saying my company is that bad?” Rhodey asked with a mock affronted look.

Tony rolled his eyes at himand went back to the computer.

“JARVIS, I need some good news buddy. Tell me you got the street narrowed down.”

“What are you planning on doing when you get the address. You can’t just knock down the front door and charge in, guns blazing. This is magic we’re dealing with.” Rhodey said

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something later, right now I just need to know who they are.”

“I think I found the address sir.” JARVIS’ automated voice announced “177A Bleecker Street, [New York City](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/New_York_City), [NY](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/New_York_State) 10012-1406, on the corner of [Bleecker Street](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Bleecker_Street) and Fenno Place in the heart of [Greenwich Village”](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Greenwich_Village)

“Are you sure that’s the place?” Tony asked

“This particular sight has a rather strange history. The land seems to be a focal point for mystical energy or so some people claim. It is believed the land was cursed by a Native American shaman. It appears to me , sir, that this must be the right location.” JARVIS concluded

“Right, yeah that makes sense. Good job J. We need to get there now.” He told Rhodey

Just then, Steve and Natasha activated their comms.

“_We’re here._” Steve announced “_ I think we’re in the building where SHIELD first started_.”

_“That’s you’re grandfather right?_” Natasha asked Steve

“Huh.” Tony said

_“There’s a picture of him, Peggy and col. Philips here_.” Steve answered

“The founders of SHIELD, of course. Dear old dad would be so proud to see what’s happening to his life’s work now.” Tony muttered bitterly

“_Who’s Peggy_?” Natasha asked

Steve didn’t reply and Tony sighed.

“_If you’re already working in a secret office...why hide the elevator?_” Steve was saying.

“Oh my god! A secret lair, that’s so cool. Man, it’s unfair you guys get to go on the cool missions.” Tony complained

“I sometimes honestly wonder who’s the child here, you or Steve?” Rhodey said, shaking his head

_“I’m a wanted fugitive all over the country and currently on the run from people who have missiles that can shoot a thousand people at a time and I’m trying to figure out the mission that our wannabe pirate boss left us before dying while giving the most cryptic clues, because straight answers are overrated anyway, and now I’m in a secret underground room filled with ancient tech I never did figure out but do tell me how lucky we are._” Steve ranted

“Okay okay- chill. Jesus, what’s gotten into you?” Tony said “did you find a port to install the drive?”

“_Yeah_.” Natasha said

The comms were silent for a few minutes and Tony had no way to know what was going on.

“_You- what? 28!- How?_” Steve sputtered

“_I- I don’t know_.” Natasha said, sounding terrified and confused

“_Zola? He’s been dead for years_.” Steve said_ “how did you get here_?” He asked after a while.

“Will anyone tell me what the hell us going on?” Tony asked

“_It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value_.” Natasha said, her voice shaky.

“_Hydra died with red skull_.” Steve said fiercely

“Hydra? What are you saying? Steve I’m coming now, I don’t care if anyone sees.” Tony was already moving towards the suit

“Tony wait.” Rhodey stopped him

“_What’s on this drive?”_ Steve yelled

“Let me go.” Tony yelled

“No. Tony we can’t just jump into it like that, we might end up doing worse than good.” Rhodey reasoned “we don’t even know if they need our help.”

“_What kind of algorithm? What does it do?_” Natasha asked

“Algorithm? Hydra? What the hell is going on?” Tony yelled frantically

“Tony focus. They said something about Zola right, try finding out more about him.” Rhodey said

“Already done sir. Arnim Zola is a Swiss scientist who worked for Johann Schmidtt, better known as Red Skull, during the world war 2. It appears after Captain Rogers and the howling commandoes arrested Dr.Zola 1945, after which he was given the chance to work for SHIELD in exchange for his life.” JARVIS said

“That hydra rat..of course he betrayed them. What were they thinking?” Tony growled

_“Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic. 30 seconds tops_.” Natasha said

Tony’s blood turned cold. The comms went offline after that.

“No. No way. No. God! Not again. No.”

“Tony! Tony breathe. You gotta breathe. You here me buddy, breathe .” Rhodey was kneeling next to Tony who must’ve sunken to the ground at some point.

“I need the suit. I’m going.” Tony said, getting up on wobbly legs

“Sir it’s appears their was an explosion at Camp Lehigh, but captain Rogers and Agent Romanoff seem to have escaped.” JARVIS announced, showing footage of the wreckage.

“JARVIS did you hack into SHIELD drones?” Tony asked

“It was necessary sir.” He replied

Hydra. SHIELD was infiltrated by Hydra.

What the hell?

“Who else do you think is a part of this?” He asked Rhodey

“I don’t know. I need to go and alert the president, this is serious Tony. JesusChrist, hydras back!” He exclaimed

Tony let out a bitter laugh

“Back? It was never gone to begin with. My kid went through all of that and practically died to stop hydra but they’re still here, still messing with his life.”

“Alexander Pierce is Hydra?” Rhodey asked

“Looks like it. Listen I don’t think it’s wise to go and tell anyone about this just yet. There’s more to this whole thing, just let me talk to Steve first.” Tony said

“Tony, we don’t know when they’ll contact us again.”

“Please just- give me till morning okay? After that I won’t stop you.”

“Fine.” Rhodey said after a while “Till morning.” He conceded

“Ok, thanks.” Tony said absentmindedly, his attention back to trying to track his son.

“Tony, they’re alright. I know it. Those two are too smart and way too stubborn to go like that.” Rhodey said

Tony smiled, though it was a brittle one “I know Rhodeybear, now leave me alone so I can concentrate.” Tony said “Hey, how much do you want to bet that dickwad is Hydra?” Tony asked

Rhodey smiled, “You mean Senator Stern? I’d be surprised if he wasn’t.”

“So he’ll be fired after all this is over. Thank god!”

“I’ll tell Pepper what happened on my way out.”

“No, don’t need to stress her out right now. She finally fell asleep after staying up for days because the baby won’t stop kicking.” Tony said

“Soon huh? There’s what two weeks left?” Rhodey asked

“Three actually. I’m a little worried about that to be honest, Steve was born premature and that lead to so many problems remember, we almost lost him.”

“That’s not gonna happen again. Tony you need to stop worrying about everything and everyone.”

“I’m sorry have you you met me?” Tony asked

Rhodey sighed “I know it’s hard buddy, but if you don’t relax for a while you’re gonna run yourself to the ground. Can you sleep for a few hours, JARVIS will alert you as soon as something comes up.”

“Always sir.” JARVIS confirmed

“I have to go, but please take care of yourself.” Rhodey said and with a final worried glance at the monitor, he left.

Tony sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. The monitor still came up empty, no sign of Steve or Natasha.

Tony considered going to the address JARVIS found, but decided against it knowing he’d never be able to concentrate on anything else until Steve contacted him again. He could take the suit and go to the camp, but that would do nothing but rouse suspicion. Steve and Natasha wouldn’t even be there.

With nothing left to do, Tony continued to try and track their comms for a while before falling into a restless sleep.

———-

“_JARVIS, is he awake?_” Steve’s voice sounded

Tony thought he was dreaming at first, but immediately woke up the next time Steve called him.

“Steve?” Tony yelped as he fell off the chair in his haste to sit straight “I’m good, its alright. Where are you? Are you hurt? Where’s Natasha?”

“_Dad! Slow down. We’re both fine, laying low at the moment.”_ Steve said

Tony immediately tracked the phone Steve called from and got the name and address.

“Sam Wilson? The veteran you told me about?” He asked

“_How did you- ugh, never mind. Yeah, we couldn’t trust anyone else so we came_-“

“To the guy you met a couple of times on your morning run. Not stupid at all.” Tony finished sarcastically

“_Sam’s a good guy dad. He even made us breakfast._” Steve reasoned

Tony did a quick background check on the guy and well yeah, he did seem cool. The Falcon project was just plain awesome.

“Okay now tell me about Hydra. What was this thing about an algorithm?” Tony asked

“_We don’t really know yet_.” Steve sighed _“Fury knew something was wrong with it and that’s why he sent Natasha to get that intel from the lemurian star. Jasper Sitwell was also there so we think it’s safe to assume the guy knows._” Steve said

“And Zola?”

“_That’s a little harder to explain._” Steve said and told Tony about Zola and how he’d transferred his brain into a computer. Could things get any crazier?

“What’s the plan.” He asked

_“Because I know you already did the back ground sweep, you know about the falcon right? Well Sam agreed to help us abduct sitwell_.” Steve said almost nonchalantly

“Two of the most wanted fugitives ask for help and the guy is ready to kidnap someone for them? He’s crazier than you.” Tony said

“_At least he only jumps off building when he’s got his wings._” Steve said

“Don’t even get me started on that.” Tony said

“_Okay, relax.”_

“Something else, Natasha sounded really frantic about something. There isn’t much that fazes that girl so what did Zola say to frighten her so bad?”

Steve was silent for so long, Tony almost thought he’d cut the call. Steve then took a deep breath and said “_I’m not sure if I’m the right person to tell you._”

“Why? Okay then, put her on the line.” Tony said

“_I’ll give her the phone but, dad, this is- she’s still coming to terms with it herself. Honestly if we weren’t so worried about everything else I’m sure she’d be freaking out by now_.” He said

“Just give her the phone.”

A few seconds later, Natasha’s voice came through

“_Miss me Mr. Stark?_” She asked “_I kept our lunatic safe.”_

Behind her, Tony heard Steve’s halfhearted protest.

“I owe you one. Are you gonna tell me what happened?”

Natasha sighed “_Zola knew our names and everything about us. He knew Steve’s full name was Steve Rogers-Stark and that he was born in 1993_” she started

“Doesn’t that mean Hydra knows he’s my son?”

“_I don’t think so. For some reason, Zola didn’t tell them. But he did tell us something else_.” She said

“What?”

_“He knew my full name, my real one which I changed before leaving KGB...He-he told me I was born in 1928_.” She said

Oh.

What?

_WHAT!_!?

“How?”

“_I don’t know. I mean, do I_ look_ like someone who was born in the 20s?_” She asked

Truth be told, Natasha didn’t look a day older than 22.

“This doesn’t make any sense. Unless-“ could it be possible?

“Didn’t KGB work with Hydra? I remember my dad told me about a raid they conducted on a Russian intelligence base, in 1949 I think, where they found illegal experimentation using a remodeled version of the super soldier serum.” Tony said

“_The serum? You think I have the serum_?” She asked

“How else would you survive this long and look like that? Unless you have some miracle skin care routine in which case, you better share it with me.” Tony said

_“You know I’ve been thinking, I have these huge black spots during my time there, days of my memory gone. What if it wasn’t days but _years_?” _She said_ “But if I have the serum, shouldn’t I be stronger?”_

“I just started pulling up my dads old files. Give me a sec.” Tony mumbled as he typed away, quickly reading through the files “From what they found out after researching the serum, it looks like this one is actually different from Erskine's formula, It was simply inspired by it. The Russian Serum was made for espionage, not war. In fact, the bearer of this serum was meant to take down Captain America, but then Steve crashed the plane and this project was scrapped. Apparently not though since you got the serum.” Tony said

_“This is all still very confusing. Right now we’ve got other things to deal with, I’ll need your help figuring this out later.”_ She said

“Anytime kid.” Tony said

_“I’m 86, you can’t call me that_.” She said

“You still look old enough to be my daughter so yes, I can call you kid.” Tony replied “Speaking of which, what is Steve doing?”

Natasha snorted “_He’s pretending not to know how to use the microwave. Sam’s been explaining the thing to him seven times now._”

“Sounds like him. Sam doesn’t know he’s my son? Seems kinda rude not telling him after everything he’s doing for you guys.” Tony said

“_We will tell him. Right now we’ve got work to do. We’re probably gonna need new comms. We need a rendezvous point after we talk to Sitwell so we can fill you in._” Natasha said.

“Right, of course.”

——————-

Fury was alive.

Tony was torn between wanting to hug the guy or shooting him.

He was still waiting for Steve’s call when Maria Hill contacted him instead and told him to come to the address she sent him.

Tony almost didn’t go, but he trusted Maria. The stoic, no nonsense agent may not always seem friendly but she was definitely trustworthy. So he went, not knowing what to expect.

He definitely wasn’t expecting Nick Fury on a bed, hooked to an I.V and a heart monitor and looking weak and pale but very much_ alive_.

It didn’t make sense.

Nick explained how he’d survived and why he needed to lay low.

“Now where’s that son of yours?” He asked

“He’s with Natasha and another guy, they’re going after Sitwell for more information.” Tony told Fury all about Zola and Hydra and the algorithm. He wanted to tell him about Natasha, hoping Fury might know more but hesitated; That was Natasha’s secret to tell.

“Pierce!” Fury spat vehemently “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted that son of a bitch.”

“Sir you must see this.” JARVIS’ voice came through and Tony fishes his phone out of his pocket. A live footage from a highway was being played. Tony enlarged the holographic video for Fury’s Benefit.

It was the guy with the metal arm again.

“The winter soldier.” Tony breathed softly

“He works for Pierce. No wonder the bastard was always trying to brush him off as a ghost story.” Fury growled

“They’re being attacked, I’m going.” Tony said as the video showed the soldier killing Sitwell.

“You can’t be seen helping fugitives.” Fury said

Tony almost knocked the table in front him out of anger

“I’m tired of people telling me that. How do you expect me to sit still while my _child_ is in danger?” Tony yelled

“Agent Hill has already been sent. She’s gonna bring them here, they’ll be alright Stark.” Fury said with surprising gentleness

Tony wanted to protest more but knew it was pointless. He sank back to the chair and watched the video.

The soldier was after Natasha at that moment while Steve and Wilson were taking on the other assassins.

Tony watched with bated breath as Natasha tricked the soldier with a recording and attacked him from behind. He threw her off and shot her in the shoulder. Fury cursed from the bed.

The soldier almost killed her before Steve intervened and started fighting him.

Tony has never seen anyone who could keep up with Steve in a fight like that. Natasha was the only one who cameclose. But the winter soldier was inhumanly fast and his metal arm could block any punch from Steve.

Then Steve kicked him and his mask fell off.

Tony knew who he was even before Steve saw him.

The numerous sketches and paintings his son had drawn over the months were floating in his mind.

“That’s impossible.” Tony whisperedthe same time Steve froze to stare at the man.

“Do you know him?” Fury asked

“Yea- he. He’s-was Steve’s best friend in the war. Bucky Barnes. He died 70 years ago.”

“Doesn’t look dead to me.” Fury grunted

Tony stared in shock as Steve just stood there, not doing anything when the winter soldier- when_ Bucky_ charged at him. Tony’s heart skipped a beat because he was sure Bucky would kill Steve and Steve would_ let him._

Sam Wilson swooped in with his wings just in time and kicked him away, Tony could’ve kissed him for that. Natasha then launched a grenade launcher at him and when the smoke vanished, the soldier was gone.

Steve was still watching in a daze as Rumlow and the rest of SHIELD- of hydra agents surrounded them. He went onto his knees without a fight and Tony could’ve screamed right then.

His son never knelt like that. Never backed out of a fight.

How the hell was Bucky even alive.

“We need to rescue them. Where the hell is Hill?” Tony asked

“She’s already there. Calm down Stark, they’ll get here.” Fury said, wincing when he shifted to much

“Take it easy old man.” Tony said absentmindedly

Fury’s expression softened. He reached out a hand and put it on Tony’s shoulder.

“I get that that man was Steve’s friends, but you both need to be ready for when worst comes to worst, we’re gonna have to take him down. I don’t know how the hell he survived that fall but the man inside is long gone, after 70 years all there’s left is hydras puppet.”

Tony winced slightly at the harsh words. He knew this was about as comforting as Fury could get, and he also knew he was right.

They may have to kill the winter soldier.

That was not a conversation he was looking forward to.

“Another thing.” Fury said “I’ve suspected it for a while now but we never had any solid evidence. You’re father had been transporting the newly recreated super soldier serum the day your parents died in that accident. I always knew that was no coincidence but today my doubts were confirmed. I have a strong feeling hydra was behind your parents murder, and the winter soldier may have been the one to kill them.”

Tony waited for the anger, the grief to wash over him but belatedly realised it wouldn’t come.

He had come to terms with his parents death a long time ago. According to Steve, they had been killed by hydra in the time line before the time travel, and now it turned out that part was still true. Either way, his parents were still dead and it was hydras fault.

“Looks like they’re here. Told you Maria will keep them safe.” Fury said

To say Steve and Natasha were shocked would be an understatement.

“Does anyone who die actually stay dead?” Wilson commented dryly.

Fury explained how he survived while Natasha’s shoulder was treated. Sam kept gawking at Tony the entire time, though the latter didn’t notice because he was too busy trying to gauge Steve’s reaction. Steve himself remained standing with a blank expression on his face.

“Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?” He asked Fury

“Can't kill you if you're already dead. Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust.” Fury grunted

Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes “Quit the drama Nicky, we all know you’re all warm and fuzzy inside.”

Steve abruptly looked up like he was noticing Tony for the first time since he got there.

Tony shook his head at him. ‘_It’s okay, I know._’

“Wait, I don’t get why he’s here?” Sam interrupted, pointing towards Tony

“I’m Iron Man. Saving the world is kinda what I do.” Tony said, shrugging

“Where were you this whole time?”

“Who do you think gave them tech support until they had to lay low and got disconnected?” Tony said, raising an eyebrow

Sam didn’t look convinced.

“I saw the footage of New York by the way, that was very brave what you did.” He said with grudging respect. Tony got the feeling Wilson didn’t like him all that much before Iron Man. Not a lot of people did so he’d let that slide.

“You’re welcome.” Tony said with a smirk. Wilson rolled his eyes.

“What exactly is Zolas algorithm?” Tony asked

“They can predict hydras enemies and target them all at once. It combines data about people, like our jobs, achievements, college scores, everything,and determines who would turn into a threat for Hydra in the future.” Natasha explained

“I think it’s safe to assume we’re all being targeted?” Tony asked

“I think that’s a given.” Maria said, shrugging.

“So that’s project insight?” Tony asked “Damn!”

Fury got out of the bed and sat by the table, looking at a picture of Pierce.

“This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize. He said, ‘Peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility.’ See, it's stuff like this that gives me trust issues.” He said

“We have to stop that launch.” Natasha said. yeah no shit.

They discussed plans on what they should do while Maria showed the chips that’s would have to be inserted to override the helicarrier codes.

“We're not salvaging anything. We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick, we're taking down SHIELD.” Steve said firmly

“SHIELD had nothing to do with it.”

“You gave me this mission, this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised, you said so yourself. HYDRA grew right under your nose and nobody noticed.”

“Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed.” Fury protested , looking towards Tony to confirm. Tony simply shrugged and remained quite.

“And how many paid the price before you did?” Steve asked

“Look, I didn't know about Barnes.” Fury started. Tony saw the way Steve’s eye hardened and he stiffened at the name. What would happen if they had to face each other in battle again?

“Even if you have, would you have told me? Or would you have compartmentalized that too? SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes.”

“He’s right.” Maria said

Fury looked at her, then Natasha and Sam.

“Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower.” Sam said

Tony fought the urge to snicker. Steve just brought some random guy with him and Nick ‘I don’t trust my own grandmother’ Fury was actually looking towards him for support. Tony didn’t blame him though, Wilson was the kind of guy you trusted easily.

When Fury turned towards him, Tony shrugged.

“You know I’m going to follow my son right?” He said , smiling at Steve who gave him a faint smile in return.

“I’m counting on that dad.”

“Well... Looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain.” Fury conceded

“Whoa wait...back up. _Dad_?” Sam asked looking back and forth between Steve and Tony.

“Yeah about that...” Steve started and for what felt like the millionth time, he explained time travel.

Sam’s jaw was hanging open by the end. Then he closed it and opened it again a few times before he finally composed himself.

Steve was honestly expecting him to run away screaming.

“You told me you couldn’t work the toaster.” Sam said accusingly

“To be honest, I can't and you don’t want me anywhere near the kitchen, trust me.” Steve said smirking.

Later, Steve went outside for some air and Tony sat down next to Natasha.

“How are you holding up?” He asked her “Ready for the suicide mission of the day?”

Natasha snorted “After this, we’re all gonna need a shitload of therapy. Do you think there’s a therapist that specializes in super spies born in the 20s?”

“Bruce Banner.” Tony said shrugging

“He’s not that kind of doctor.”

“So he keeps saying.”

They both looked at each other and burst into hysterical fits of laughter.

After a moment, Tony was serious again.

“He loved him you know? Steve was in love with Bucky.” Tony said

“I know.” Natasha said, an odd kind of wistfulness in her eyes

“He won’t be able to make the tough call in the end, can I trust you to be able to do that if the situation arises?”

“That’s the problem isn’t it Tony? I don’t think I can. My memories of my early life are still vague but I remember meeting the winter soldier. I think I was in love with him too.” She said

Oh shit!

Tony immediately hugged her when he saw how utterly wrecked she seemed, despite the cold and collected exterior.

“We’ll figure something out.” Tony muttered against her head. She nodded

“I didn’t tell Steve, no reason to confuse him even more.”

“You loved him, do you know what happened to him?” Tony asked

“Brain washing. Almost every day he’s awake.” Natasha said

Tony cursed. “We might not be able to save him.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to accept that.” Natasha was the toughest person Tony knew. Seeing her like this was setting him over an edge.

Before Tony could say anything else, his phone rang

_“Tony-She’s, man I have no idea what to do. Pepper having_" contractions. Rhodey's frantic voice said

“What? Now? Oh shit. This is terrible timing. Okay, okay,- just, Rhodey, take her to the hospital. I’ll come as soon as I can.” Tony said

“Now? She’s having the baby _now?_ I can’t miss my god daughters birth.” Natasha cried

————

Tony found Steve on the bridge talking to Sam.

“-Look, whoever he used to be, the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop.” Sam was saying

“I don't know if I can do that.” Steve said

That was the thing Tony was afraid of. Steve wouldn’t be able to do why needed to be done, that hesitation could cost him his life and countless others.

“Well, he might not give you a choice. He doesn't know you.” Sam said

“He will. Gear up, it’s time.” Steve said and started walking towards the building.

Tony stopped him and motioned for Sam to leave them.

“The project launch is in a few hours. You can’t be side tracked Steve.” Tony warned

“I know dad. I’m not gonna put millions of lives on line. But after the threat is clear...”

“You’re gonna go after him.” Tony finished

“I can’t give up on him. You know I can’t.” Steve said

“And I can’t lose you.” Tony struggled to keep his voice even “I’ve lost you once before kiddo, I’m not doing it again.”

“You don’t understand, he was there for me when I thought I’d lost everything. He loved me when people told me my very existence was wrong. He promised to be there for me till the end of the line, and I promised to do the same for him.” A few tears had slipped down Steve’s face and he angrily wiped them.

Tony fought back tears of frustration of his own and instead leaned forward to rest his forehead against Steve’s.

“Morgan’s coming, anytime now. Just promise me in the end, I’ll have both my kids with me.” Tony whispered.

“I promise.”

Tony kissed Steve’s forehead and pulled back.

“Peppers having the baby. Steve I’ll have to go. I can’t help you now.”

“She is? Man I’m gonna miss it.” Steve said

“Maybe not. Get your work done fast and you won’t. I brought some supplies with me, New comm links, weapons, upgrades for your buddy falcon and Natasha’s suit. Oh yeah- photostatic veils, she mentioned you might need those.” Tony said

“Tell Pepper I love her. Now go.” Steve said

“I’m going to be talking to you through the comms the entire time okay?” Tony said and pulled Steve in for a last hug.

—————

“You stole the suit from the museum?” Tony asked

_“Didn’t know where else I’d find one ready. Can’t exactly go to the shield office for my spare suit now can I_?” Steve replied

“I’m getting on the plane right now. I’ll get back to you once we take off.”

“_Sure_.” Natasha said _“The veils working by the way._”

“Of course it’s working. I made it.”

Tony got onto the plane and waited until take off to connect the comms again. The two minutes it took for that had sent Tony over an edge.

“Hello? Still alive?” He asked

“_Yes. Natasha got in disguised as a councilwoman. Me and Sam just hijacked the tech room_.” Steve said

“Okay, do you’re thing.”

Steve started his speech

_“Attention, all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rogers...._”

Tony felt proud as he listened to his sons words. Steve could inspire hope and loyalty with a simple speech. Tony liked to think he got that’s easy confidence from him, after all Tony himself was a master of words himself. But the truth is, Tony could always sell a lie with ease. Steve, on the other hand, truly believed every word he spoke which is what made it so convincing.

_“...the price of freedom is high, it always has been, and it's a price I'm willing to pay. And if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not._” Steve finished

“Did you write that down first, or was it off the top of your head?” Sam asked.

In the chaos, Tony hacked into SHIELDs cameras without them noticing.

“Pierce is not happy. He’s threatening the councilmen.” Tony said

_“They're initiating launch_.” Maria said

“We’re on our way to the hellicarriers.” Steve said

“_Hey, Cap, how do we know the good guys from the bad guys_?” Sam asked

“_If they're shooting at you, they're bad_.” Steve said

“Now can you believe he’s a teenager?” Tony asked

“_Yes. Yes I can_.” Sam said

From the camera footage, Tony watched Steve and Sam fighting the hydra soldiers.

In another footage, he watched Natasha whip some badass moves and point a gun at Pierce’s face. It was hilarious, everyone’s expression when they thought Counciler Hawlin was kicking their ass.

“_I’m sorry, did I step on your moment?_” Natasha asked, taking off the veil.

“Go Natasha!” Tony whooped

Tony’s flight was landing. Once got off and into the car where Happy was waiting for him, he turned the comms back on again.

_“Eight minutes Cap._” Maria said

“_Working on it_.” Came Steve’s voice

Natasha was in the process of dumping all secrets on the Internet

“.._.If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain secret. Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are_?” Pierce said

“_Are you?_”

Natasha shot Pierce a blank look. Tony cursed internally. If the information got out the whole world will know when Natasha was born.

Tony turned to the other footage.

“_Alpha locked_.” Steve said

“_Falcon, where are you now_?” Maria asked

“_Had to take a detour._” Sam flies towards the helicarrier and manoeuvres the missiles being fired at him so they shoot the ship instead _“I’m in. Bravo locked._”

“_Two down. One to go_.”

“Boss, we’re here.” Happy said

Tony got out of the car and usher inside, meeting Rhodey half way

“You got my message?” He asked

“I already alerted the president. Special forces are on their way to SHIELD office anytime now.” Rhodey said

“Steve’s team has mostly got a handle on the situation. Where’s Pepper?”

A doctor lead Tony to Peppers room.

_“Dad, we’ll be alright. I’m disconnecting your comm, Pepper needs you more right now_.” Steve said and before Tony could say anything, The comm link was disconnected.

“Shit.” Tony muttered “Make sure he’s alright. The footage of the fight is on my phone. Tell me if anything happens.” Tony shoved the phone in Rhodey's hand and entered Peppers room.

“Hey Pep.” He greeted, pushing back her sweaty bangs. She was obviously in a lot of pain and currently in the middle of a contraction.

“I-I didn’t think you’d c-come.” Pepper breathed once the contraction was over

“Of course I came. Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

“St-Steve?” She asked

“He’ll come back. He promised he’d be there for Morgan.” Tony said firmly.

He clutched Peppers hand in his. Soon his daughter would be born.

Tony never had been a devout man, but in that moment he found himself praying.

He prayed that he wouldn’t lose his son the day his daughter was born.

He prayed for his family to be safe.

Because In that moment, that was all he could seem to do. Pray.


	3. Hotel California

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for the excess use of italics. Hope you guys like this

Barely an hour after Tony reached the hospital, Morgan .H. Stark was born.

Tony held the little bundle in his arms, staring at the angelic face peeping out from underneath the blankets. How could something this pure and beautiful exist in a time where everything seemed ugly and dangerous?

Morgan shifted in his arms, opening her large brown eyes to look at him. She didn’t cry, apart from the few seconds after she was born. Instead she simply started at him like she recognized him.

“She looks just like you.” Pepper said. She was smiling tiredly at the pair sitting by her bedside.

Morgan did look like him. Same brown eyes and dark hair. But most importantly, she was healthy. That had been something Tony had been fretting about since the day Pepper told him she was pregnant.

“Tony you’ve got to see this.” Rhodey said frantically as he all but barged into the room.

Dread settled low in Tony’s stomach as he instinctively held Morgan closer to his chest. Pepper shot himan alarmed look and took Morgan into her arms

“Go. He needs you.” She said

Tony quickly kissed her forehead and followed Rhodey outside.

“What happened?” Tony asked

“The helicarriers have been neutralized thanks to Steve and Wilson. Natasha leaked all SHIELD Intel onto the internet.”

Tony nodded impatiently

“What happened to Steve?” He asked

Rhodey sighed “He’s- the winter Soldier was on the helicarrier with Steve.”

“Give me my phone. I need the footage.” Tony tried to grab the phone from Rhodey's coat.

“Tony wait, maybe it’s better if you see him first. You can watch the video after we reach the hospital.” Rhodey said

“The hospital? Steve’s in the hospital?” Tony asked.

What could’ve possibly happened to put him in the hospital?

“Wilson is with him. Apparently he’s slightly unstable right now.”

“Unstable? What do you mean?”

“He won’t wake up.”

—————

Tony was sitting beside Steve’s bed with a tablet open on his lap.

Steve had been in a coma for three days and was showing no signs of improvement. Tony immediately wanted to shift him to New York and threw a fit when doctors denied him permission.

He needed to be close to his son and daughter. The doctors hadn’t known Tony was family, how could they?, but Tony finally convinced them to let him take Steve to New York.

Three days later and he wasn’t showing any improvement. The doctors thought the coma was due to a psychological issue rather than the injuries them self.

Either way, there was only one person Tony blamed for this: the winter soldier. Bucky Barnes.

He knew it was probably irrational, Bucky hadn’t known what he was doing. And if what Nat said was true than it was Bucky that pulled Steve out of the water when he fell. Bucky has saved Steve’s life. But to a father watching his son lying on a hospital bed looking like he was hanging between life and death, well, rational thoughts didn’t come easy.

Tony opened up the video for what felt like the millionth time. He didn’t know why he was even watching it since the footage ended as soon as Steve put the chip in.

Watching the Winter Soldier fight Steve as his son begged him not to do this, it sent jolts of white hot anger in him.

The bruises on Steve’s face still hadn’t healed. This was the same man who casually jumped off buildings and escaped without a scratch. Even the war with Loki didn’t put him in the hospital. How bad did the soldier hurt his child that he was lying in the hospital, bruised, bloody and unconscious?

“Hey! Any change?” Natasha asked from the doorway

Tony shook his head. He was holding Steve’s hand in between his, pressing soft kisses against his unresponsive palm while murmuring apologies

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there..”

“I should’ve protected you..”

“Please wake up baby..”

“I love you piccolo, I’m so sorry...”

Natasha looked tired as she sat beside him.

“I saw the hearing. You were pretty cool.” Tony commented

‘_You're not gonna put me in a prison. You're not gonna put any of us in a prison. You know why? Because you need us. Yes, the world is a vulnerable place, and yes, we helped make it that way. But we're also the ones best qualified to defend it. So if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me.’_

“The judge looked ready to explode.” Tony said

She gave him a small smile.

“You hired Maria?” She asked

Tony shrugged. “SHIELDs down, but we could definitely use her skills at SI.”

They sat in companiable silence for a while, staring at the one person who was so important to both of them.

“If I see him again, I swear Natasha I won’t hesitate.” Tony started

“I know. But you should know I’ll stop you.” She said “We both will.”

Tony let out a frustrated sigh

“He’s not the same person Nat! Why can’t you both get that into your thick skull?”

“Would you have given up on Steve?” She asked not unkindly. Tony couldn’t really answer that question. “If the roles were reversed, Bucky wouldn’t give up on Steve and my James wouldn’t give up on me.”

“You never told me how you met him.” Tony said

“1967, he was brought by Hydra to train me, I already had the serum by then. The raid you talked about?, The winter soldier was assigned to protect me and he took me away from the base for safety. I got shot and we had to stay at a cabin for three days. In that time away, James broke free of the brain washing and we escaped together. We- we were gonna come to America.” She took a deep breath, brushing her hand through Steve’s hair

“What happened?” Tony prompted

“We reached Paris. It was the most beautiful moments in my entire life.” She told him all about her James. The time they spent, the things they did. She told him how she fell in love for the first time.

She told him how they were captured and James sacrificing himself so she could escape.

“It was useless in the end since I got caught anyway.” She said bitterly

By the end of her story, she was crying. Tony hugged her tightly, whispering comforting words in her ear.

“What will I tell Steve?” She asked “We both love the same person and he’s _alive._ He’s out there and we’re both gonna want to search for him. What’s gonna happen to us?” She asked

Tony sighed, he really couldn’t deal with this right now.

“I love him too you know.” Natasha said softly after a moments silence “Steve was the first person I’d fallen for since James.”

And wasn’t that the most complicated thing he’d heard? Especially since he knew Steve had been harboring a crush on Natasha for a while now, even if he didn’t admit it. Could Steve’s feelings for Natasha run deeper than a simple crush?

He needed coffee. Lots of coffee.

Actually, he needed a drink. Or two. Probably a whole bottle.

“I know this is confusing. It’s better we deal with this later.” Natasha said

“Are you really gonna go looking for him?” Tony asked, already knowing her answer.

“I have to. Steve’s gonna go too, he won’t listen if you try to stop him. At least if we’re together then we’ll look after each other. And Sam will come in a heartbeat if we ask for help.

“Damn right I will.” A voice came from the door.

“The guards let you in?” Tony asked Sam as he came to sit down opposite to Tony and Natasha.

“They know me.” He said shrugging “I’m the guy that saved their asses.”

Tony rolled his eyes.

“I came so you two could get a break. Stark, you’ve been here for two days now and you’re beginning to stink. Besides, shouldn’t you at least visit your daughter again?” Sam reasoned

It took a few minutes but Sam finally convinced Natasha and Tony to leave. When they stood up and walked to the door. Sam swiftly took Tony's old place. Tony shot him a questioning look

“It’s hard to explain but I need to be on his left when he wakes up.” Sam said seriously

Tony blinked and almost asked, but then he decided he was too caffeine deprived for that and let it go. Sam sniggered softly at his expression when he left.

“Looks like it’s just us Cap.” Sam said and played Marvin Gayes ‘Troubleman’ as he settled for a long wait beside his best friend.

After all, you didn’t save the world together and not become best friends.

——————

Steve was dreaming. He knew it was a dream.

_'I’m with you till the end of the Line pal.’_

_Bucky looked shocked and stopped punching him and smiled at Steve, the same smile that he gave after they kissed for the first time._

_But then his smile turned malicious and he was clawing at his face, peeling it off to reveal Red Skull._

_‘Hail Hydra! You can never kill me. You can never win.’_

_‘No!’ Steve screamed. He wasn’t in the helicarier anymore, the scene changed and he was with Bucky. It was the day they kissed._

_‘Let’s pretend it’s the future.’ Bucky leaned forward to kiss him, but his eyes widened and he was screaming in fear. They were in a lab and Bucky was strapped to a table with faceless people in white coats moving forward to block Steve’s view of him._

_‘Steve!’ He screamed in pain ‘help me, please.’_

_Steve yelled and tried to reach him but he couldn’t. Bucky was fading from view and he was in a clearing with green grass and lush trees._

_‘Steve, honey, where are you?’ Steve rushed towards the voice_

_‘Mom?’_

_‘There you are. Lunch time kid. I don’t care if you graduated college, you still have to eat on time.’ Sarah walked towards him, looking just as beautiful and young as she did on the day she died._

_‘I’m 18.’ He protested ‘I should be allowed to decide if I want to eat or not.’_

_‘I don’t know about you but I’m starving. Let’s go home already.’ Tony stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Sarah._

_They bantered for a while, the way they always did. It felt so real and so natural, Steve didn’t even question it._

_That’s when he saw her. The ghostly pale woman dressed in black, standing a little distance and staring at them._

_He knew her. He’d definitely seen her before, but he couldn’t remember where._

_‘Who are you?’ He shouted_

_She turned around and walked away. Steve ran after her and reached a larger clearing._

_‘Who are you? Come out!’ Steve yelled._

_‘Steve.’ His mother’s trembling voice called him_

_He whirled back to see his parents. They were shaking as they walked towards him. Steve screamed as his mother was turning to dust in front of his eyes._

_‘I’m sorry baby.’ She said as he reached her. She turned to dust before he could touch her._

_‘You have to save us. You can save us.’ Tony said, stumbling into Steve’s arms_

_‘No dad! Don’t go. Dad please!’_

_Tony faded away in his arms._

_Steve looked around desperately, trying to figure out what happened. He gasped when he saw the clearing._

_It was no longer empty, but filled with what looked like memorial stones. Thousands upon thousands of names were written on the stones. Billions of names._

_‘No! This can’t happen.’_

_Suddenly, the clearing turned into a familiar battleground. One he had been dreaming about for years._

_‘I am inevitable.’ A deep voice said._

_Steve turned to see the alien Titan looming over him. He was wearing the golden gauntlet Steve had seen in his dream before, six stones gleaming ominously on it._

_‘Who are you? Why are you doing this?’ Steve tried to run towards the Titan but he couldn’t move._

_He was at the cabin, before it had exploded._

_‘You can stop that.’ A voice said. Steve turned to see the woman in black sitting on one of the kitchen chairs._

_‘Who the hell are you? This isn’t a dream is it?’ Steve asked_

_‘You are unconscious in the real world but yes, this isn’t a dream. You are suspended in the veil between life and death.’ She said_

_‘I’m dying?’ Steve asked in shock_

_‘No,Not yet. You are in a coma. This was the only way I could communicate with you.’ She said_

_‘The ice. You showed me those visions when I was stuck in the ice.’ Steve said, suddenly remembering._

_‘I can not talk to the living. They can’t see me.’ She replied. Her voice had an eerie calmness to it and she sounded like she was talking underwater. It unnerved Steve._

_‘Who are you?’_

_She smiled at him, walking forward to stand right in front of him._

_‘I am death.’_

_‘What-?!’ Steve took a step back, instinctively reaching for his shield and turning to run when he realized it wasn’t there._

_‘Let me explain it more clearly. I am the manifestation of death, there are some who call me Lady death even though my form is quite ambiguous. I cannot talk to the living for this reason.’ She said calmly. Steve stopped and stared at her, silently asking her to continue._

_‘You are probably wondering why I wish to talk to you. The vision you saw of the being wielding the stones, his name is Thanos.’ She began_

_‘He- he turned everyone to dust. Billions of people.’ Steve stammered_

_‘He intends to wipe fifty percent of all living beings in the universe. He believes that perfect balance must be maintained for the universe to sustain and he considers himself to be the one to bring salvation.’ She said_

_‘Sounds like a self entitled, pretentious son of a bitch.’ Steve said_

_The woman- lady death, quirked her lip in a slight smile. Steve was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was talking to the manifestation of death itself._

_‘Thanos is trying to collect all stones for that purpose. He is on a misguided agenda and part of it is my doing, I’m afraid.’ She sounded forlorn as she said that_

_‘How?’ Steve asked_

_‘As death I represent balance. Death does not discriminate, does not judge. There is no life without death. There is no balance in the universe without me. Thanos is- for lack of better word- smitten by me. He wishes to be with me. Wiping out half the universe is supposed to be some sort of tribute to me, the more deaths the more powerful I am after all. Or so he believes. The truth is, Thanos' plan disrupts balance and creates tears across the fabric of the universe.’ She explained_

_‘Why don’t you tell him yourself.’ Steve said. Jeez, if the guy wanted to woo her so muchcouldn’t he just sing her a song or something? He wants to kill trillions of people based on some complicated philosophical agenda-so extra._

_‘Like I said, I cannot talk to the living.’ She replied_

_‘Why are you telling me this! Wait- did you have something to do with sending me back in time?’ Steve asked_

_‘It was necessary. I have seen the outcome of Thanos’ quest in other universes and you’re team was only one who could ever stop him.’_

_‘Hold up- other universes?’ Steveasked_

_‘This is not the only universe in existence. There are worlds upon worlds that exist beyond the veil of time and space. Each universe has its own timeline and future. I am the only constant across the multiverse for death is the same everywhere.’_

_‘So there are universes where this Thanos guy succeeds?’ Steve asked_

_‘Yes. I have seen many instances where Thanos succeeds but he always had an important advantage in these scenarios- secrecy. He knew all about you and the rest of your team but earth was unprepared for him. I am telling you about him and his agenda so you will not be caught off guard this time.’ She said_

_Steve nodded, still too dumbfounded to react much to her words._

_‘You told that wizard guy to send me back in time?’ He asked_

_‘Dr.Strange is well versed in the mystical arts and played an important role in the defeat of Thanos in the other universes. I was able to briefly connect with him, long enough to show him what needed to be done to prepare earth.’_

_‘Then why did he have to send me back in time? Why me?’ Steve yelled, the anger he’d felt since the day that man showed up at his house was showing._

_‘There are universes where you really are a man from the 20s. It was essential that you step into the role you were meant to carry and to set that in motion, Dr. Strange sent you back in time.’_

_‘The chitauri invasion, that was Thanos?’_

_‘Thanos found Loki, bitter and thirsting to prove himself. He took advantage of the young demigods fragile state and brainwashed him into committing those atrocities. You will not meet anyone who understands the Titan as intimately as Loki does and must take his help to plot against Thanos.’_

_‘Loki’s dead. Thor told us he died almost a year ago.’_

_‘The god of mischief simply faked his death fearing Thanos’ wrath for not only did he fail to bring the tesseract, but he also lost the sceptre which contained one of the stones.’ She said_

_‘The sceptre had a stone. But we took the-holy shit! Rumlow took the sceptre from Nat which means Hydra has the stone.’ Steve let out a string of profanities and started pacing in anger_

_‘The sceptre is being used right now to conduct unethical experiments on people. You must inform your team about Loki and find away to retrieve that sceptre.’_

_‘How do we stop Thanos?’ Steve asked_

_She smiled cryptically at him. ‘You must figure that out Steven. Just remember, your strength lies not in each of your abilities but in your team.’_

She faded away and Steve was slowly waking up.

——————

Steve slipped in an out of consciousness a couple of times before he finally stayed awake.

He blearily remember Sam sitting next to him, then Natasha who held his hand and muttered something to him in Russian.

He wanted to squeeze her hand reassuringly but didn’t have the energy to do so.

When he woke up for good, Tony was sitting next to him with a bundle in his arms.

“Is that-? Is she..” He croaked, his voice rough from unuse.

Tony smiled at him

“You finally decided to grace us with your presence. Meet your baby sister Steve.” Tony announced and shifted the bundle to show the sleeping baby in his arms. Steve gasped when he saw Morgan for the first time.

“She’s beautiful.” He breathed

“She is isn’t she? Looks just like me. Hopefully this one will take some pity on her old man and not give me any heart attacks like her brother.” Tony said, giving him a pointed look. Steve groaned internally at the inevitable lecture.

“Can I hold her?” He asked

Tony carefully placed Morgan in his arms. Steve sucked in a breath when Morgan shifted and opened her eyes to look at him. A moment later, she reached out a hand to touch his face.

Steve was completely wrapped around her finger and he decided in that moment that he would do anything to protect her.

His dream came back to him in full force and Steve looked at Morgan, determined to never let any of that happen.

He told his father everything the woman told him. Tony was silent for a long time after he was done.

“I’m going to take Morgan back home, after that, we’re gonna talk. I have something to tell you too.” Tony said

“About what?”

“I may have found another stone. I’ll explain when I get back.”

—-

Natasha visited him after Tony left.

“Hey sleepy head. I thought you’d have enough sleep after 70 years in the ice.” She commented. Steve snorted derisively at that.

“Sam showed me the video from the courtroom, that was really cool.” He said

“People think your some sort of stickler for rules. As far as I know you’d be the first to commit treason if you believed what you’re doing is right.” Natasha said

“Just because something is legal doesn’t make it a measure for morality.”

Natasha took his hand the way she did so many times when he was unconscious. Her touch sent a tingle through his hand and Steve had to struggle not to pull away. It was confusing, his feelings for her. Now that Bucky was in the picture it made the whole thing a lot more complicated. He didn’t think it could get harder than that.

“Did anyone find him?” He asked

“No. He’s stopped under the radar. Tony’s been trying to search for him.”

“Dads not gonna be happy if he does find him.” Steve said, panicking a little

“Tony promised not to hurt James if he finds him first.”

Steve blinked at her in confusion

“James?” He asked. It wasn’t just the use of Bucky's first name, the familiarity with which she said it unnerved him.

Natasha stiffened for a moment before deflating, her expression tired and hurt.

“You remember what Zola said?” She asked

“You were born in 1928.”

“Well, I was recruited by the KGB as a child. The red room was a training base disguised as a ballet school for girls. They trained a lot of girls but were trying to determine the best candidate for the Black Widow program..” she told him all about her training and how Amora tricked her into escaping only to foil her plans and inadvertently cause her to be selected for the serum infusion. She told him about waking up 1967 after being put to sleep for nearly two decades and meeting him. The winter soldier

“...he was brought by Hydra to train me, which he did. Most of what I know today, he taught me. Did you know it took twenty years for Hydra to break him? He fought back every time they tried to turn him. Even then, they weren’t completely successful because after a raid at the base, we were stuck in an abandoned barn for three days and he managed break free of the brainwashing.”

Steve gasped, eyes pooling with tears. They tortured Bucky for twenty years. How many years did he spend thinking Steve would come to rescue him? Steve had just given up on Bucky after the fall.

“You escaped, why did you go back?” He asked, desperately hoping for the story to end differently. He knew what happens in the end, that didn’t stop him from wishing.

Natasha laughed bitterly

“We did escape. We managed to evade hydra and KGB for a month. James took me to Paris where he knew someone who could help. We were supposed to come here, to America where he was convinced Howard Stark or Peggy Carter would help us.”

Natasha told Steve all about Paris. Of the days spent shopping and eating and living. She told him about the nights at bars, dancing and flirting. Of the long conversations under the covers, the topic of which was more often than not him.

Somewhere along her confession, Steve realized something. She lovedBucky, or James as she called him.

They were both in love with the same person.

“_Je suis tombé amoureux_. That was the last thing he said to me.” Natasha was openly crying now and Steve realized his own face was wet with tears.

“We’ll find him. He’ll come back, he has to.” Steve said firmly, wiping away his tears.

“James would tell me stories of the two of you. He told me how he fell in love with the skinny kid from Brooklyn who never knew when to quit and I found that I had begun to love that kid in his stories. And then I actually met you and those feelings only grew.” She looked away, like she was afraid of his reaction.

Steve didn’t think, he reached forward and pulled her close, kissing her softly on the lips.

She pulled back and stared at him in shock.

“What about him? You still love him.” She asked

“I do. I can love more than one person Nat. When he comes back, we’ll be there for him.”

“He’ll come back. I know he will.”

This just got a hell of a lot more complicated than he ever imagined. But it made perfect sense in a way Steve couldn’t explain. It felt right, having both Natasha and Bucky there for him.

They would wait for him. Natalia for her James, Steve for his Bucky. They had each other for now and Steve couldn’t stop smiling as he kissed Natasha-_his_ Natasha again.

They would make this work. First, they needed to find him. His Bucky, her James. Their love.

They will save him, no matter what.

_‘Till the end of the line pal. I’m not giving up on you._’ Steve thought

————————-

When Tony returned to the hospital, he knew something big happened between Steve and Natasha. They were smiling and talking softly to each other, looking oddly peaceful like a heavy weight had been lifted off both of them.

Tony had a feeling he knew exactly what they were talking about. He didn’t entirely understand how they sorted out their feelings, but it wasn’t the most important thing right now.

“We’re going home. The doctors said your good to go.” Tony announced as he entered the room. Steve and Natasha jumped apart, looking anywhere bit at each other.

“Him I get, aren’t you supposed to be better are subtlety?” Tony asked raising an eyebrow at Natasha.

“Shut up Tony.” She muttered, glaring at him.

Steve rolled his eyes at both of them

“You’re living in the tower by the way. The apartment in DC was trashed by hydra and with SHIELD gone, you have no reason to live there.” Tony said

“Dad I’m pretty sure I can find another place for myself.” Steve said

“There’s nothing wrong in living with your parents after 18. Besides, it's not just you, I’m inviting all the Avengers to live there. Wilson’s welcome to if he wishes.”

Natasha raised her eyebrow at him in surprise.

“All of us? Why?” She asked

“With SHIELD gone I think it’s smart we stick together. It’s dangerous for us to live apart now.” Tony said

_‘your strength lies not in each of your abilities but in your team_.’

Lady deaths words made sense to Steve for the first time.

“I don’t know Stark. With SHIELD online, all my covers have been blown. The world knows who I am and I don’t think they’re ready to accept me.” Natasha admitted. Her face was neutral but Tony saw the fear in her eyes. He’d felt that fear of judgment many times himself.

“That’s all the more reason for you to stick with us. I’ll even give you back your old job as my PA.” Tony said waggling his eyebrows playfully at her. She snorted at his expression.

“It seems like a good idea.” Steve told Natasha, looking hopefully at her. There was definitely something between them now.

Natasha still looked uncertain.

“Look, just think about it. Bruce already lives there and Thor agreed to move in, poor guys going through a break up right now. Clint said no but I think if you say yes, he’ll reconsider.” Tony said

“I’ll think about it.” Natasha said finally.

“Jane dumped Thor?” Steve asked

“I’m pretty sure yes, though Thor claims it was a mutual dumping.” Tony said shrugging.

“I better go. There are some things I need to sort with Nick before he leaves to Europe.” Natasha said

She shot a meaningful look at Steve who understood what she meant. She was going to search for files on Bucky.

After she left, Tony stood quietly for a long time.

“Dad, the stone.” Steve reminded him

“I found a footage from the battle of New York which lead me to research more. I’m pretty sure I found the sorcerer that sent you back in time. He has one of the stones right?”

“You found Dr. Strange?” Steve asked

“Wha-? That’s his name?” Tony asked

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know what his real name is. It’s a cool superhero name though.”

“Sounds more like a super villain.” Tony muttered.

“Show me the video.” Steve asked

Tony took out his tab and showed the video to Steve.

“This- this isn’t him.” Steve said

“What? That’s not the man who sent you back?” Tony asked

“No. I think this is a woman, look.” Steve said and showed the video to Tony. He had been so obsessed with finding the house, he hadn’t paid much attention to the figure on the building. Now that he did, it made sense. She was a woman.

“But the symbols she’s using to cast spells, or whatever it is she’s doing, it looks similar to what Dr Strange did.” Steve said

Tony nodded. So that place still meant something. They would find some answers there.

Steve was pulling up other footage’s and trying to find more about the stones when he accidentally opened something else.

‘Project Ultron.’

Steve glanced at his father who seemed absorbed in his thoughts and wasn’t paying attention to him. He started looking through the project and his frown grew deeper the longer he looked.

“Dad, what is this?” Steve asked

“Huh?” Tony grunted

“Project Ultron.”

Tony immediately snatched the tablet from Steve’s hand.

“JARVIS, you’re supposed to block out anyone from seeing this.” Tony reprimanded

“I’m pretty sure JARVIS was the one who opened this for me in the first place.”

Tony remained silent for a while, contemplating Steve’s answer

“You already started with it didn’t you? The evolutionary function? DadJARVIS was already the smartest AI anyone had ever seen and now he’s making decisions on his own, disobeying what you told him.” Steve said “And right now it’s just JARVIS, I can’t imagine him turning against us. But you wrote something here about using the stones-“

“JARVIS, what’s going on?” Tony interrupted

“I felt the need to let Master Steve know of the rather dangerous project you were undertaking. My apologies if I overstepped my boundaries sir.” JARVIS’ automated voice replied.

Tony massaged the bridge of his nose.

“Steve you’ve seen what the stones could do. Fifty percent of the population, how do you plan on saving all those people? How can we take on a threat we still don’t know how to defeat?” Tony asked

“Together.” Steve replied confidently

Tony let out a derisive snort

“This isn’t my little pony. We can’t defeat thanos with the power of friendship or some touchy-feely crap like that. We need an actual plan.” Tony snapped

Steve felt his face heat up as he glared at Tony.

“I never meant it like that. When I said together, I mean we are gonna make these decisions together. As a team. The responsibility to save the world isn’t yours alone dad.”

“We can’t fight this Steve. We gotta prevent it from ever happening. A protective armour around the world, imagine stopping Thanos before he could become a threat.”

“We have to prevent him from getting the stones yes, but a fight is inevitable. This is like project insight all over again, depending on something we can’t control to save us is dangerous.” Steve reasoned

Tony let out a long suffering sigh. He paced around the room for a few seconds and came to pause in front of Steve.

“We’ll lose.”

“Then we’ll do that together too. Look, we’ll go to that sorcerer first. Maybe she can help us understand the stones better. Then we need to find out which hydra base is holding that sceptre. Thor needs to get back to Asgard and find Loki. Once we have everyone on board, we can be better prepared. If it comes to a fight, we have time to prepare earth. We have time to plan.” Steve said

Tony still looked unconvinced but henodded.

“JARVIS, scrap all plans related to Project Ultron.” Tony commanded

“Already done sir.”

Both Tony and Steve shared a look. With the enhanced programming, JARVIS was sounding more like the Edwin Jarvis, when he was alive. It sounded like the AI had learned how to _care_. While that thought warmed Tony’s heart, it was still unnerving to see JARVIS make his own decisions. Maybe Steve had a point. If ultron turned out to be a hostile they couldn’t control, the result would be catastrophic.

“C’mom, lets go home”

—————

Tony immediately called for a team meeting which was answered quickly.

With everyone sitting in HQ, Steve Tony and Natasha filled them in on everything that happened.

“Dr.Strange?” Bruce asked

“Yeah. He’s a time travelling wizard of some sort. Hey do you think he chose that name because of Dr. who?” Steve mused

“Maybe there’s a magic version of Tardis,” Clint exclaimed

Thor looked between the two of them in confusion while Bruce shook his head.

“Dr. Strange is his real name. Dr Stephen Strange is an award winning neurosurgeon. I worked with him once before my accident with the serum. The guy is a brilliant but arrogant bastard” Bruce’s eyes shifted to Tony briefly when he said the last part. Tony rolled his eyes at him.

“That’s his actual name? Oh wait-Sitwell mentioned him remember.” Steve said turning to Natasha

“While telling us about potential targets for Hydra yes. He said Bruce Banner and Stephen Strange.” She confirmed. Bruce frowned when he heard his name.

“So where is he now?” Tony asked

“At a hospital probably performing surgery. He’s definitely not a wizard, at least not yet. Maybe whatever happens to drag him into our crazy world hasn’t happened yet.” Bruce hypothesized

Steve frowned “We should still go to this address. Thor, when will you leave for Asgard?”

“As soon as Heimdall finds a way to open the bifrost bridge. Loki has a lot to answer for.” Thor grumbled. As annoyed as he was, Steve could tell he was happy to find out Loki was alive.

“We need to start looking for the sceptre through the SHIELD files.” Steve continued

“Maybe I can be of assistance in that.” A voice said behind them.

They all turned to see Phil Coulson standing by the door. Bruce was the only one who didn’t seem shocked to see him there.

“Phil-?”

“How are you-? This is impossible!”

“You’re _alive?!_”

“Son of coul, We have dearly missed you.”

“Agent? _How_?”

“Yes I’m alive. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner.” Phil said, smiling slightly

“Project TAHITI.” Bruce explained and told them all about how Phil was practically resurrected.

“...even I didn’t know Phil was apart of that project until a few days ago. With the fall of SHIELD, Fury thought it would be better to tell you about Phil.”Bruce finished

Everyone was happy Phil was alive, but once the shock died , they couldn’t help but feel resentful. Especially Natasha and Clint who were closest to Phil before his ‘death.’

“We can give agent hell after we’re done dealing with all our shit but now, we need to focus on the problem at hand.” Tony reasoned

Clint snorted “_You’re_ saying that?”

“I take offence to that.”

“I’m sorry we had to hide this from you. I hope you understand it wasn’t entirely my decision.” Phil massaged his temples and let out a weary sigh. Everyone noticed the tiredness in Phil for the first time and wondered what he must’ve endured to get here “I’m going to stay and help as much as I can. Can someone fill me in on everything I missed?”

“Come on, we’ve got work to do.” Clint said dragging Phil with him “We’ll try searching for any files regarding the sceptre.” He said and left, Natasha following behind.

“Uncle Bruce, maybe you should go with Thor. Help him with Loki.” Steve said. Ever since the age regression, Steve had taken to calling Bruce ‘uncle.’ The doctors heart warmed every time Steve did that.

Bruce gave him a wry grin

“I assume this is because the hulk is the only avenger Loki is visibly scared of?” He inquired

Steve grinned mischievously

“Also because Thor always falls for Loki’s words and ends up getting stabbed.”

“That is unfortunately true. One time, Loki turned himself into a snake and..” Thor proceeded to tell them that eventful story about his childhood and Steve was suddenly grateful he didn’t have a brother.

“Morgan isn’t gonna stab me when she’s older is she?” He discreetly asked Tony

“Only if you deserve it.” Tony said with a shrug. Steve shuddered, reminding himself to be extra nice to his baby sister.

“So we have a plan. You guys leave for Asgard, dad and I will go the sorcerers mansion.” Steve said.

——————-

“I was waiting for you.” She said when they reached the doorstep of the townhouse. Seconds later they were transported inside and seated on a couch in front of her.

She was wearing the same yellow robes from the video. She sat in front of them with a kind of serene but deadly grace that reminded Steve of an extremely strict principle.

Then he saw the locket.

“That locket, the stone. He kept the stone inside it. You have it don’t you?” He asked her, leaning forward for a better look.

“That’s the stone? So you know about the stones?” Tony asked

The woman stood up and once again, they were transported around the house, this time to a library.

“A little warning next time?” Tony snarked

The woman shot him a look.

“I had a vision about you and your team. You came here seeking answers about the stone and I shall give them to you. But I must warn you, if you mess with the stones it could threaten the very fabric of your reality. As sorcerer supreme it is my duty to protect this reality and I will do whatever I must to do so.” She warned. A book floated from a top shelf and landed on the table in front of the them. The pages flipped open to a page filled with illustrations of six stones with information written in some ancient language.

“What does this say?” Tony asked

“Before the Universe began, six singularities existed. Sometime after the universe exploded into existence, these were formed into the six Infinity Stones by the [Cosmic Entities](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Cosmic_Entities). Each stone represented a different aspect of the universe-[Space](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Space_Stone), [Mind](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Mind_Stone), [Reality](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Reality_Stone), [Power](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Power_Stone), [Soul](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Soul_Stone), and [Time.](https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Time_Stone)” Steve translated. Tony looked at him in surprise while Steve simply shrugged

“I picked up Sanskrit after the ice. I was bored.”

“Of course you did.” Tony said

The woman-sorcerer supreme?, lifted her locket.

“This contains the time stone, it allows the user to control time. For millennia, the sorcerer supreme's have been bestowed the responsibility of guarding the time stone. Terrible consequences occur when people mess with time.” She explained

“Then why did your successor send a thirteen year old kid back in time. How is that responsible?” Tony asked

“Stephen Strange was meant to be the best of us, I trust that any decision he made was necessary.” She said with a calmness that was beginning to irritate Tony. But he was also terrified of the woman so he didn’t say anything. Despite looking quite young, something about her eyes made her seem much, much older.

“So if that’s the time stone, the scepter Loki used is the...the mind stone? Loki used it to brain wash Clint and Selvig.” Steve asked. She nodded “And the tesseract is the space stone, a reservoir of unlimited energy. And the aether Jane Foster found is...the reality stone.” Steve grew more exited as he read through the information, making sense of what they knew.

“So the tesseract safe on Asgard, the time stone is here and Thor assured us the reality stone is in a secure location. That’s three stones accounted for. The mind stone is currently on earth being used for dangerous experiments, not cool. Assuming agent and the murder twins find the location, we’ll get that stone too. That leaves the power and soul stones. Any idea where they are?” Tony asked

The sorcerer looked pensively into the book.

“The other two stones are in a secure location. Thanos himself doesn’t know where they are-yet. Right now you’re concern is finding the mind stone and preparing for an assault.” She said

“Even if we find them, what’s to stop thanos or some other tyrannical maniac from using them? We need a permanent solution for this. No one should posses that kind of power.” Steve said

She gave him a rather odd look.

“Those who have no desire to wield the stones are in fact most suitable people to posses them.” She said “You are an extraordinary young man Steven Rogers-Stark, I can see why Dr. Strange risked time to send you back.” Steve wasn’t even surprised she knew his name.

Tony swelled with pride at the compliment. His son was no doubt extraordinary. Steve, on the other hand, frowned like he didn’t agree with her.

“I just do what I believe is right. Nothing special about that.” The thing about Steve, he actually meant that. It wasn’t some lie he said to sound humble. He genuinely didn’t think he was special.

She smiled like she was satisfied with his answer.

“Anthony Stark, you play an important role in the fight against thanos. The universe will owe you in the end.” She said rather ominously

“Owe me? In a good way right?” He asked

“You’re son asked me a question: how do we prevent anyone from misusing the stones, ever. The answer to that question lies with you.” She said

“Me? Well the only idea I have is to just dump one of the stones down a garbage disposal.” Tony said

She raised her eyebrows at him. Beside Tony, Steve shrugged, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to him. Then again, both father and son though polar opposites, were still cut from the same cloth: they were both dumbasses as Pepper so often reminded them.

“The stones maintain the balance between the multiverse. Destroying any one of them will cause ripples across the universes. That would only result in chaos.” The sorcerer explained.

“Then I don’t have an answer for you.” Tony stated

“Your mind is one of a kind Anthony. I have faith you will find a solution. Now you have all your answers, I must ask you to leave. I have other affairs to attend to.” Without another word, Steve and Tony we’re transported back outside on the streets.

“I really don’t know what she’s talking about.” Tony reiterated

“We’ll figure it out.” Steve said smiling at his father “Together.”

——————

“Heimdall hasn’t answered my call yet. As soon as we get an answer we’ll be on our way to Asgard.” Thor told them when they got back to the tower.

“We’ll need to make sure the aether and tesseract are safe.” Steve said

“Phil and I looked through the files Nat released. There are some encrypted documents that hold locations for 17 different Hydra bases. We don’t know which one holds the sceptre.” Clint said

“Check if any one was mind controlled in those areas.” Steve deadpanned

“What you want us to ask around the civilians? ‘Excuse me, has anyone been waking around with a big pockey stick and a zombie army?’” Clint snapped

Steve rolled his eyes at him "Good idea, lets do that."

“Good news, Wilson said yes.” Tony said

“When’s the wedding?” Natasha snarked

“He agreed to stay in the tower. So that’s Thor, Bruce, Steve, Sam and Rhodey-whenever he’s free. That leaves Natasha andClint. Oh and agent, as the new director of SHIELD, you’re welcome to operate here.” Tony announced

Natasha and Clint turned to Phil in surprise

“Director?” Clint asked. Phil shrugged

“Fury’s retiring. Someone had to do it.”

“What’s your job now?” Natasha asked

“Sorting the mess Hydra did. I’d be happy to work with Avengers for now.”

Steve walked away from the chatter in the room and stood by the balcony. The night sky seemed peaceful, despite the ever present noise of New York.

“You’re thinking about him?” Natasha asked, standing next to him

“I want to search for him.I need to bring him back.”

Natasha brought a file out of her coat and handed it Steve.

“That trail is a tough one. He’ll come to us when he’s ready.” She said

“I have to try.”

“I know.” She leaned up to kiss him. This was something he could get used to, even if he didn’t fully understand what they had.

“I’ll stay.”

“What?” He asked

“Tell Tony I’m moving in by the end of the week.” She said and kissed him one last time before turning around and leaving. Steve stood there, staring at her retreating figure.

“Hey, you’re dad told me you’d be here.” Sam said standing next to him

“I heard you accepted his invitation.” Steve said

“Would you rather I didn’t?”

“I’m happy you agreed Sam.”

“Good cause Tony just showed me my floor and the water pressure here is _sweet_.” Sam commented

“The beds are still too soft though.” Steve said thoughtfully

“I could live with that.”

“Unfortunately I’m not gonna be enjoying the luxuries of Stark tower just yet. I’ve got a mission.” Steve opened the file with information on the winter soldier

“Seems like a hell of a mission.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“I know. When do we start?” Sam asked

Steve smiled at him. Sam was a friend he could depend on and he was grateful to have found him.

They walked back inside to find the rest of the team cooing over Morgan. Steve went and stood next to Pepper.

“Is this crazy enough for you yet?” He asked

She smirked at him

“If you think this is gonna scare me, you’ll have to try harder.”

Steve laughed and looked at the rest of his team. His family.

They could do this. They’ll win.

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I had to mock Dr.Stranges name. I just had to okay. That’s like tradition.


	4. Nothing left to say now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Certain truths are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, this chapter cane out shorter than I intended but I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting any longer

After the latest revelations, everyone was ready to get to work as soon as possible. Find the sceptre, find Loki, make sure the other stones are unattainable, find a way to stop Thanos from invading.

Easier said than done.

Everyone had other responsibilities to attend to. Steve, Natasha and Sam were making plans to leave to Europe following a trail they found on Bucky. Thor was still trying to establish a connection with Heimdall. Bruce had obligations towards important researches, especially with SHIELD gone and he being the only one left qualified to supervise these projects. Phil was busy trying to rebuild SHIELD, preferably without a nazi organisation this time. Clint..Tony didn’t know what obligation Clint had but he was the only avenger who hadn’t permanently moved in, appearing and disappearing at will.

Tony himself was busy. Even with Pepper and Tony dividing the work at SI and all their other duties, Morgan still took a lot of their time and energy.Neither of the parents complained, but that didn’t change the fact that it was definitely exhausting.

They had a lot of things distracting them as it is, the world decided they needed more. Specifically, Media.

Everyone blamed Tony, but Tony maintained that it was Steve’s fault.

“You landed yourself in the hospital.” Tony reasoned

“You were the one who practically screamed the truth to the world.” Steve shot back.

“My son was injured and in a coma, and the doctors refused to let me in. Of course I wasn’t thinking.”

Ever since Steve woke up, they had many close calls with the media.

After the battle of New York while the world was still smitten with the idea of Superheroes, Fury had ridden up there ass to give an interview. Being the impromptu leader of the team, Steve was expected to address the crowd. It wouldn’t be a problem except Steve had momentarily forgotten to pretend he was from the 40s and slipped.

“I’m so stoked to be here.” He told one reporter

“The space army got served.” He excitedly yelled at another

The next day, Captain America trying to imitate modern slang took social media by fire. #CaptainHip was trending on Twitter. Thankfully, no one suspected the truth.

The next close call had been during the Mandarin incident. Captain America almost socking a reporter for saying Tony was dead, well that tended to make news. People were starting to speculate the relationship between them.

“I can’t tell which is worse.” Pepper said one day holding two different articles “People thinking you’re somehow Steve’s son or thinking you and Steve are dating.”

“The first one, obviously. I’d have to be 70 years old to be born in the forties. People think I’m that old?” Tony lamented

“There’s an article saying you’re dating your son but do tell me how terrible it is that people think your old.” Steve said dryly.

All in all, they had some pretty close calls. But no one ever came close to suspecting the truth.

Until...

“Captain America, Tony Starks secret child?” Natasha read the headline, “Earlier this week Steve Rogers A.K.A Captain America was admitted to the hospital after the events of the fight in SHIELD. The secret government organisation which had been infiltrated by Hydra had been taken down by Rogers and his team. A video emerged of Tony Stark bursting into the hospital and demanding to see Rogers, who had been placed in a heavily guarded room. In the video, Stark is seen yelling at the doctors, claiming to be Steve Rogers’ father. No one from stark Industries has commented on the news yet and we are awaiting an explanation from the men involved...”

“What are we gonna do now?” Steve asked. While the whole mess was bound to be frustrating, Steve couldn’t really regret that it happened. He spent his entire life hiding his identity, now he could scream it off the rooftops.

Tony sighed. “Pepper’s arranging a press conference. It’s better if we tell the truth before the press comes up with some story that’s worse.”

“But we can’t let them know about the stones or anything else that can come in the way of our plan against Thanos.” Steve reasoned

“Firstly, we don’t have a plan against Thanos. Secondly, how stupid do you think I am?” Tony retorted. Clearly he was too exhausted and sleep deprived at the moment. Steve brought him a steaming cup of coffee and slid it across the table in front of him. Tony accepted the cup, moaning gratefully and downing half of it in a single gulp.

“We don’t have to do this right now. We can release a private statement for now and worry about an actual interview later.” Steve said gently. Tony sighed

“It’s best if we get it over with. The interview is tomorrow, are you ready?”

“As ready as I ever will be I guess. What are we even gonna say?” Steve asked

“Leave that to me.”

————

There were a lot of people. Too many of them. Steve suddenly felt like his uniform was strangling him as he stared at the flashy cameras and the various reporters, which was strange because he never had a problem with crowds before. Beside him, his dad was the picture of calm and every bit as confident as he always is.

“Thank you all for coming. As you know, a video was released recently that revealed some secrets about my personal life that I had kept hidden for a while now.” Tony started

“Is Captain Rogers really your son? How is that possible?” A reporter asked

Tony grimaced when he saw who it was. Christine Everheart. Of course.

“It’s true. Steve is my son.” Tony said, before he could get another word the reporters were bombarding them with questions.

“If you want answers you’re gonna have to let me talk first.” Tony said, raising his hand to motion for silence. A few seconds later the chatter died and everyone went silent, waiting for him to continue.

Steve looked around the room, instantly feeling relaxed when his eyes fell on Natasha and the rest of the Avengers who were standing at the back, away from everyone else’s view.

“My personal life is none of your business so I will not give you any of the details. The short version, Steve is my son. He was born in 1993. In 2006 an incident occurred and he was sent back in time where he spent three years. You know the story of how he became captain America and how he ended up here.” Tony said simply

“Time travel? Are we supposed to believe that?” A reporter from the daily bugle piped in. Tony hated that paper.

“An army from outer space led by a Norse God invaded New York, is time travel that insane of a concept?” Tony shot

“So you have means to time travel? How did that happen?” Everheart asked without preamble

“I cannot disclose the full details of that incident. But before Steve was sent back in time, the world had been a different place, one without Captain America. Hydra had succeeded in bombing most of the country with no one to stop them from continuing their reign of terror. Although they were weakened after the war, they were beginning to regain power when Steve was sent back in time and he changed everything. He saved the world.” Tony said, pride evident in his voice.

Steve squirmed slightly in his seat, trying not to blush. All that attention was making him really uncomfortable. More than anything, Tony addressing him as his son in front of so many people felt so different, Steve didn’t quite know how to react.

“So Captain Rogers was sent back in time to save the world?” A reporter asked skeptically raising his eyebrow.

“Yes.” Tony said firmly

“This all sounds rather far fetched Mr. Stark.” The bugle reporter remarked

“Believe it or not, that’s the truth.”

“How did this...time travel take place? Who sent him back?” Christine asked

“I can’t tell you how exactly he was sent back. All you need to know is that my son has made several sacrifices his whole life, all because he believed it was his responsibility to save everyone. I spent six years believing my son to be dead before I learnt the truth and we were reunited. We would greatly appreciate it if no one interfered in our personal lives anymore.” Tony said

“How is it that no one knew you had a son before 2006? Why did you keep him a secret? Was he part of some sort of experiment?” The bugle reporter asked. Tony was ready to deck him for that question.

“Did you really just ask me if I hid my son, my child as an experiment?” He asked, struggling to keep his voice even “I kept him a secret to protect him. Like I said, before The time travel, the world was different. Hydra was running rampant and my family was a target. I had to keep Steve a secret so he wouldn’t be targeted too.”

“Should he even be here? His presence could be messing with the timeline right now.” Someone from the crowd yelled

“Yeah! He should be locked up so he doesn’t change it even more.”

Steve stiffened in his seat, his face drained of colour. Lock him up? Could someone really do that?

Tony looked furious. He tried searching the crowd for the people who said that but couldn’t find them. But the words they said were spreading and soon most of the people in the room were murmuring amongst themselves in agreement.

“I’m sorry but how many of you have actually time travelled before?” Tony asked coldly “Unless you have, I’m not taking the opinions of some dumbasses who’s knowledge of time travel is limited to back to the future. And if anybody ever threatens my son again, I will personally see to it that you lose your jobs and never find another one.” Tony spat vehemently.

“One more question, based on the years you just told us Captain Rogers seems awfully young. In fact, he’d be-“

“18. I’m 18 years old.” Steve cut in. That was the first time he’d spoken since the conference started at the reporters seemed just as surprised that he’d broken his silence.

“That means you were a minor when you joined the army. You lied on the forms, that perjury. You should be arrested.” The reporter from Bugle yelled. The newspaper seemed adamant at getting some sort of dirt on superheroes.

Steve smirked at the reporter

“Lied on the forms? Legally speaking I didn’t even exist in the forties. How can you arrest a guy born in 93 for a crime committed in the 40s?” Steve asked, raising his eyebrow challengingly. Beside him, Tony snickered, not even bothering to hide it.

The reporter sputtered, trying to come up with a valid argument.

“Captain Rogers, you were forced into impossible circumstances, at such a young age too, and yet you chose to save everyone at the cost of your own life. I want to thank you for the services you have done for this country, and the rest of the world.” A reporter at the back said. Steve blushed while Tony beamed at her. He liked this reporter.

“Any more questions?” Tony asked

“Captain America is the symbol of our nation. How can you derail the country with your lies?” A reporter from...ugh! Foxx news. Just what they needed

“What did you expect him to do? Tell everyone he was from the future? They wouldn’ve-“ Steve cut off Tony before he could say anything else.

“You’re right, for seventy years my identity has been constructed on lies. Today I want to tell you who I am, who I really am.” Steve stood up and took a deep breath before taking off his cowl, showing his face to the world for the first time. Immediately the room was filled with the click and flashes of cameras as people hurried to take pictures. “My name is Steven Rogers-Stark. I was born in 1993 and sent back in time. I woke up in my time again after being rescued from the ice. In the seventy years that I spent frozen, my name, my symbol had been used by many conservative groups to spread a twisted version of the American dream. All these racist, sexist, homophobic agendas hiding behind my symbol. I’m here to prove you wrong. You know my father is Tony Stark, but none of you know anything about my mom. Sarah Rogers was an Irish immigrant who moved here after her parents died. See I’m not as all American as you think I am.”

“It’s true. My mother was Italian in case your wondering.” Tony cut in, enjoying the pissed of looks on some people. Steve smirked at Tony before continuing.

“I’ve seen the exhibit in the smithsonian, my friendship with Bucky was aptly explained. But they didn’t include something important, Bucky was not just my best friend but also my first love.” Steve paused to let those words sink in. Murmurs started spreading amongst the reporters

“Did you just come out as gay?” Someone shouted

“Actually, I’m a pan sexual trans man.” Steve said, enunciating every word. Beside him, Tony looked close to exploding from laughter. The foxx reporter was looking pretty red in the face.

“Everyone thought the worst that could happen today was finding out I’m your son. I think I just broke a record.” Steve whispered to Tony who couldn’t stop the small bark of laughter. Thankfully no one noticed and he had time to compose himself.

“You are a....a-“ The foxx dude started

“A trans man, yes.” Steve confirmed

“How? I mean how can you look like-like a- like this?” He finished lamely

“The serum helped a little. It proved I was meant to be a man after all.” Steve said shrugging

“The serum changed you? So do you-?” The reporters gaze was travelling downwards and Steve had to fight the urge to deck him. At the back, the Avengers were glaring threateningly at the crowd, daring anyone to say something bad.

“What are you implying?” Steve asked coldly

The reporters eyes hardened and he cleared his throat before bluntly asking

“What’s in your pants?”

“Justice.” Steve said without missing a beat “And Natasha Romanoff.” He winked at her. The reporters turned back in time to see her blow at kiss at him.

“You can’t be the symbol of our nation. Give up the shield.” Someone shouted

“And who’s gonna save your butts the next time aliens invade? The world needs Captain America, and despite your hate, he will do whatever he needs to do to save us all.” Tony said angrily “You’ve got your answers. This interview is over.” Tony stood up and dragged Steve off the stage with him.

“You were great piccolo.” Tony said gently after they reached the back stage

Once the adrenaline left his body, Steve was shaking slightly. The questions had been emotionally draining and while he was calm and even a bit snarky while answering them, coming out to the world like that had been scary.

“That was the bravest thing I’d ever seen.” Natasha said, hugging him from behind. He hadn’t seen her entering but he turned around and buried his face in her shoulder, taking deep breaths to calm himself.

“People are probably gonna hate me now.” Steve said

“There are some people who will, but they’re not worth our time. The important thing is, there are people who needed this. Look, its already trending.” She showed him her twitter. Everyone seemed to be talking about his interview. Like he thought, there was a lot of hate, lots of people who thought he shouldn’t be Captain America anymore. But there were people supporting him, thanking him.

‘Captain America has given us a voice. We will no longer be oppressed, we won’t stand by your hatred.#standwithcap #therealamericandream #shieldagainsthate’

‘Thank you cap.’

‘We stand with you. #capforlove’

‘You’ve protected us for so long. It’s our turn now.#shieldcapfromhate.’

Steve smiled when he saw that. It made him feel a lot better knowing he made a difference. Him coming out hopefully helps others, gives them the strength and bravery to do so themselves.

By the next week, Steve coming out was still the most trending news. It had inspired other celebrities and even a few politicians to come out. The lgbt communities of the country were taking social media by the storm. Rallies, protests and speeches, they all had a new mascot: Captain America.

People almost completely ignored the time travel, which was pretty hilarious in Tony’s opinion.

“We tell them you traveled in time and people are more worried about what’s in your pants.” He commented. Steve rolled his eyes

“Surprising amount of hypocrites in the country.”

“Not so surprising. I’m actually glad it happened, at last I can tell everyone you’re my son.”

Steve smiled and continued cooing over Morgan who was staring at him from his lap.

His phone started ringing and Steve hesitates before checking it, he’d been getting a lot of hate mail as of late despite the private number.

“Who is it?” Tony asked

“Mark, my friend from high school.” Steve said before answering “hello? Um, hi-“ he greeted awkwardly

“Dude! We saw the news, like what? I’m still convinced it’s all an elaborate prank.” Mark practically shouted

“Oh right, the press conference. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys but yeah, is true. I’m captain America.” Steve said

“I don’t even know where to start man, this is insane! I’m friends with Captain America. Wait, that stark internship was a lie wasn’t it? You were actually fighting bad guys. And your dad is Iron Man, can this get any cooler?” Mark rambled

“This must be weird for you huh?”

“Weird? This is awesome! You know better than anyone just how big of a cap fan I am, and to think you were right in front of me all along. The only way this can get better is Landon Stones reaction.”

Steve couldn’t help but laugh at that. They talked for a few more minutes before Steve hung up.

“You’re whole school must be so shocked right now, I wonder what that coach is thinking?” Tony mused

Steve chuckled “Apparently he ripped off the cap poster in his office. Can’t say I’m offended.”

“Pepper told me Jacob Hammer had given an interview of being best pals with you when you were young and how devastated he had been when everyone thought you were dead.” Tony said rolling his eyes

“Yeah sure, I bet he was heartbroken.”

“When are you leaving?” Tony asked, trying to sound nonchalant

“Um...in a week I guess. Nat is still looking for trails to see where he might be. She has a strong feeling he’ll end up in Paris at some point.” Steve said

Tony hummed in response.

“Dad I could actually use your help with this. There are some encrypted files in the leaked SHIELD data which we think might contain information on the winter soldiers brainwash. Do you think you could crack those?” Steve asked earnestly

“Of course I can. But- Steve is it a good idea to go after him? It’s dangerous piccolo, I can’t let you get hurt again.”

Steve shook his head “You don’t understand, he stopped dad. He recognised me. I think he left to find himself again.” Steve said

“Then why don’t you let him? If Bucky is alive beneath all that, then he’ll come to you when he’s ready.”

“I have to try.”

Tony knew it was useless to argue with him. Steve had decided what he was gonna do, so he’s gonna do it. He sighed in resignation.

“I’ll look through the files.” Tony said and left for the lab. He was in no rush to get to work, but he decided if he stayed in the same room with Steve they’d end up fighting again.

“JARVIS, sure through the leaked files for encrypted ones.”

“The files you suspect are Hydra?” JARVIS asked

“Yep.”

Thousands of files emerged and Tony sighed before setting to work.

“Ha! Found it. I’m sure this is the one.” Tony exclaimed an hour later. He hadn’t fully encrypted the file but a brief report labelled it as a record of experiments done on a soldier. This had to be it.

Except, the more Tony read through the report, the more horrified he became. Some of the experiments they described,

Starvation for extended periods, testing healing factor by deliberately injuring the subject(cutting, burns, bone dislocation), sleep deprivation, electrocution.

The list went on and Tony felt sick to the stomach when he read the impassive reports the ‘doctors’ had written, like they were working on an object rather than a human being.

It was a while before Tony realised the file wasn’t Bucky’s.

This was dated before the fall, before the 107th had even been rescued.

It was research on the super soldier serum and it’s limits since Erskine wasn’t alive to tell them himself.

The file was Steve’s!

Tony read the subjects name a dozen times before reality sunk in.

Steve had been experimented on. All those horrible things he’s read had been done to his son.

This can’t be real.

Howard’s name came up in the file and Tony’s anger flared.

Had his father known about these experiments? Worse, had he participated in them?

He found a letter Howard had written to the Senetor of that time who had apparently been overseeing the project.

Senetor Brandt,

I have already declined you’re request to conduct those experiments on Captain Steve Rogers. No matter what reasons you may have, what you suggest is inhuman and atrocious. You must be forgetting that Captain Rogers is human, and by all means just a boy. I assure you if it comes to my attention that you have proceeded with the experiments despite my refusal, well let’s just say the president and I are on speaking terms and he owes me a favour as of late. I hope you understand what I am implying and will leave any matter regarding Captain Rogers to the army.

Regards,

Howard Stark

Tony breathed in relief, Howard tried to protect Steve from these.

But that didn’t change the fact they happened anyway and Steve hid it from him.

Tony remembered how Steve’s face blanched when that reporter suggested locking him up. Or the time when Killian wanted to research the serum and discussed his plans in front of Steve.

Over the years, Steve had shown on many occasions how scared he was of doctors and labs, only now did Tony realise why.

He really, really wished he had the time stone with him. He wanted nothing more than to go back in time and save his son from all of this, and probably repulsor blast those psychopaths in the face.

Tony quickly shut the reports, not being able to read any further. He sat with his head buried in his hands, not understanding what to do with this information.

How could Steve be okay after this?

——————-

It was midnight before Tony found the courage to leave the lab. Everyone was asleep when he went up , even Steve. Tony slowly entered his room and sat by his bed, watching him sleep.

“Dad?” Steve murmured sleepily. The serum made him incredibly sensitive to movement of any kind.

“Hush, go back to sleep.” Steve must’ve been really tired because he grunted and rolled over, falling asleep immediately.

Tony wanted to confront Steve about what he found but decided against it. Steve would come to him when he was ready.

He gently brushed his hand though his sons hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead

“I swear piccolo, for as long as I’m alive no one will hurt you like that again. They’ll have to go through me first.”

Tony kissed Steve’s forehead one last time before getting up and leaving the room. Pepper was awake when he reached their room.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me.” Tony said

“I didn’t, Morgan woke me. She wouldn’t stop crying, just got her to sleep.” Pepper stifled a yawn before saying “What were you even doing in the lab this late?”

“Just looking through a couple of encrypted files for Steve. I’m exhausted.” Tony slumped down on the bed. Pepper kissed him before curling up behind him and falling asleep instantly. Tony lay awake for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

He wanted to end all of this before it even started. His family, the avengers, everyone’s been through enough already.

He also had Morgan to think about, how could he let her grow in a world with the impending threat of war?

He had to do something.

————

Steve was due to leave for Europe in less than a week and there was something he had to do first.

“Hey Cathy.” He greeted when his old friend opened the door

“Steve! My god I must say, that interview! I’m so confused.” Cathy led him inside, fussing over him like she always did every time she visited.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before.”

“Tony Starks son, that is something.” She said “Howard Stark, you’re grand father I suppose, he visited us after the war. Helped us when money was low, said it was the least he could do after everything you and Bucky did for the country.”

Steve wondered for the millionth time, what had changed the amazing, compassionate man Howard had been into the cold, calculating man Tony had grown up with.

“This is probably a lot for you to take in.” Steve said

“Yeah it is- wait a minute.” She pointed an accusatory finger at Steve “That 1941 dodgers match we bet on, you won because you already knew the answer.”

“No I didn’t. Time travel changes things remember?” Steve said

Cathy raised an eyebrow at him and Steve snorted “ok fine, I cheated.”

“You owe me...50 dollars.” She said

“I’m pretty sure it was less than 3 do-“

“Inflation Stevie.” Cathy reminded

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“It is a lot to take in,” Cathy admitted “But I think I’ve heard stranger things. Nothing can surprise me anymore.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” Steve said quietly

“What do you mean?”

“Bucky is alive.”

—————————

It was several hours before Steve left Cathy’s. Explaining how Bucky survived the fall and all that had been done to him was emotionally draining. Steve tried to keep it as sort as possible, not wanting to stress Cathy in her age.

But she deserved to know the truth so he told her. Somewhere along the way, Steve broke down and admitted his feelings for Bucky as well. It took a while to explain Natasha and where she fit in all of this and while Cathy looked extremely confused, she seemed to caught up on the fact that Bucky was alive to care about anything else.

Natasha greeted him when he reached the tower

“How’d it go?”

“She took it surprisingly well. I promised she’d be the first one to know when we find Bucky.” Steve answered

“Are you ready to go?”

“Yes.”

“The lets go find our man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for our love and don’t forget to comment


	5. Good times bad times

His father was acting weird and Steve was running out of ideas as to why. It started the night Steve caught him watching over him in his sleep, at that time he’d been to exhausted to say anything. But it didn’t end there.

The next day, Tony woke up at 5 AM and accompanied Steve on his morning jog, going as far as putting on the suit when he couldn’t keep up with Steve. After they reached the tower, out of nowhere he decided to modify a car and called Steve to help him. At lunch time, he even came upstairs to eat with everyone without anyone having to drag him upstairs. When Pepper left for work, Tony suddenly needed Steve’s help to look after Morgan, despite singlehandedly taking care of her and his work in the lab at once before.

If he didn’t know any better, Steve would say Tony was afraid to leave him out of his sight.

“Okay spill.” Steve blurted after dinner when Tony followed Steve into his bedroom to ‘check if the security lock is working.’ “JARVIS won’t let anyone in without access, you should know, you built him. You’ve been acting weird all day, what’s going on?” Steve demanded

“What-? Nothing. Is it so bad for me to want to spend time with my son?” Tony asked in an oddly high pitched voice

“You’re a worse liar than I am.” Steve said raising and eyebrow

Tony sighed in defeat “I’m worried, okay? There, I said it. I’m a paranoid parent but can you blame me? Now that people know you’re my son the target on your head just got bigger. I’m- I just need to make sure you’re alright.”

“Dad.” Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose “I- I get it okay? I understand you’re scared but this- this following me around, it’s not gonna work. Next week I’m off to Europe for who knows how long, you can’t keep worrying about me like that. You’re needed here.” Stevereasoned

Tony had an unreadable expression on his face. Steve couldn’t read minds so he didn’t know that currently, Tony’s mind was supplying him with a list of all the horrible things done to Steve in the name of science. The thought of his son leaving was sending him into panic mode

“Maybe I should come with you, help you on your search I mean.” Tony suggested

The offer was tempting, with Iron Man on there side their work would be a whole lot easier. But Steve shook his head

“No dad, you’re needed here. Think abut Morgan, do you really want to miss the first months of her birth?” Steve asked

Tony knew Steve was right, he would never leave Morgan right now. He would never make the same mistakes Howard did.

“Were you...close to Howard during the war?”Tony asked abruptly

Steve frowned on confusion

“Why are you asking me that now?”

“I just wanted to know what he was like before, you know.” Tony said, walking past Steve to enter his room. Steve followed him inside and shut the door behind him. Tony was perched atop the bed, waiting for his answer.

“He was, well different, nothing like the stories you told me about him. He reminded me of you a lot, I guess that’s why I was so close to him. It was a little comforting knowing he was family, even if he didn’t know that.” Steve admitted, sitting on the chair by his desk.

“So you were close?”

“You could say that, he helped make me after all. Ever since he risked his life and flew behind the enemy lines for me, well, risking your life together tends to make you friends.” Steve shrugged

“I need to teach you better social skills if that’s the only way you know how to make friends.” Tony stated

“Hilarious.” Steve commented dryly “Dad, I don’t know what changed in the seventy years after the plane crash but the Howard I knew was a good man, he helped me a lot, defended me when I needed it and didn’t care about my sexuality either. He was a futurist, like you, and apart from Bucky and Peggy, he was the one person I trusted in that time.”

Tony nodded, deep in thought. Howard was never a good father to Tony, but he was a great friend to Steve. Unknowingly the man had protected his grandson and for that, Tony was eternally grateful. For the first time in forever, Tony regretted that his parents couldn’t be a part of his sons life.

“You know there was this one time I thought Howard was flirting with Peggy and got really jealous.” Steve admitted with a snort

“You’re kidding right?”

“He asked her to go eat fondue with him and I legit thought it was some sort of 40s euphemism.”

Tony barked out a laugh

“Oh my god! That’s just- wow. You actually thought? Just wow!” Tony exclaimed. Steve blushed in embarrassment.

“How was I supposed to know?”

“I bet she was pissed at you for making assumptions?”

“Another girl kissed me and Peggy saw so I panicked and basically accused her of ‘fondue-ing’ with Howard. She ended up being the first person to test the shield for me.” Steve said

Tony and Steve looked at each other for a moment before they broke into hysterical fits of laughter.

Tony was worried. He would always worry about his son, which parent doesn’t?

Things were bound to get worse, but for know, they could spend the time they had together in piece.

As Steve fell asleep, Tony sat beside his bed and made more promises to keep him safe.

“JARVIS.” Tony called out as he entered his lab “Give me the back up files for the Ultron project.”

————-

The next day, Tony hosted a small party in the tower to officially celebrate the team moving in. Not a lot of people attended, the team, Maria Hill, Coulson and a few people at SI the team were familiar with including a group of old techies that helped with damage control after their missions.

The party was on full swing when Steve entered with Sam. Natasha was by the bar, playing bartender while Tony and Thor were arguing over mundane things.

“So, no Pepper? She's not coming?” Rhodey asked

“No.” Tony replied

“ Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?” Maria hill asked

“Well, Miss Potts has a company to run.”

”Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer.”

“And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting.”

”There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize.”

Maria mock coughs] “Testosterone! Oh, excuse me.”

“Jane’s better.”

“Didn’t Jane dump you?” Tony asked

“That’s beside the point. I have a mighty hammer, it could beat your machinery at any given time.”

“Bring it on point break.”

That’s how everyone ended up sitting around a table with Tony trying to lift Mjolnir. When that didn’t work, he used one of his gauntlets and even got Rhodey to help.

“When I’m king, I’m bringing back prima nocta.” Tony grunted as tried to pull the hammer

“Are you even pulling?” Rhodey asked

“Who’s side are you on?” Tony shot back

“It’s no use Anthony, only those worthy to posses the power of Thor can move the hammer.” Thor said smugly

“So if anyone can lift the hammer they become the heir to your throne?” Clint asked curiously

“Aye!”

Next Bruce tried, then Clint and Sam. No one had any luck with the hammer.

“Widow, what about you?” Thor asked

“That’s not a question I need answered.” Natasha said smiling. Steve saw the insecurity in her eyes and for the millionth time, wished he could do something about it.

“Steven, you should try.” Thor said with a curious glint in his eye

Steve shrugged and stood up to try. He expected the hammer to be heavy, that he couldn’t move it like the others.

The minute he touched the hammer, however, he felt the power coursing through it. It tingled at his fingertips and spread through his body, like electricity coursing through his veins.

He prepared to put his entire strength but the hammer began to move at the barest touch and immediately, Steve let go of the hammer, throwing his hands up in defeat. Thor, who had been gazing at him with an unreadable expression, gave out a nervous chuckle. Natasha however gave him a knowing look.

He could move the hammer. He knows he could. But in the split second he realised that, a million thoughts coursed through his brain. He did not need the team to think he was worth more than they were, serum was bad enough, the power of a god would be worse.

Besides, he didn’t want that power. He’d seen what too much power did to people. He didn’t want to end up like red skull. So he chose not to lift Mjolnir, he didn’t care that he was worthy. As far as Steve was concerned he was just a kid from Brooklyn that happened to stumble upon greatness.

Steve listened as Tony came up with some theory about the hammer being coded to Thor’s fingerprints while Thor came up with a rather simple theory.

“You’re all not worthy.” He said as he flipped the hammer in his hand.

————-

For six months, Steve, Natasha and Sam searched for Bucky, to no avail. This was the first time they were coming home in almost half a year and as exited as Steve was to see his family again, not finding Bucky had left a huge hole in him.

He was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing him again.

“Tony was right, we need to let him find himself first. He’ll come to us when he’s ready.” Natasha said reassuringly

“If you want to keep looking, I’ll come with you, you know I will. But you have to admit it’s probably useless.” Sam reasoned

Of the three of them, Sam had nothing to gain whatsoever in this mission, yet he never complained as the search dragged on. For him at least, Steve thought they needed to take a break.

When they reached the tower, Steve was greeted by Happy who immediately pulled Steve onto a hug.

“Welcome back kid, Boss’ been restless for months. I’m glad you’re finally home.”

“I missed you to Happy.” Steve said smiling knowingly at the man.

“I’ll be in my floor, call if you need anything.” Natasha said on the elevator.

“Yeah me too.” Sam added “God knows I need a shower.”

Once the other two left, Steve was alone in the elevator as it reached the penthouse, a mellowed version of soft rock Muzak playing in the background. It immediately washed Steve with a sense of home, he really needed his father after this monumental failure.

It was probably childish to think that way, but ever since waking up from the ice he was rather clingy to his father. Right then, Steve’s emotions were all over the place and he needed some stability, a solid comfort.

“Steve, You’re back! Are you hurt? Is everything alright?” Pepper bombarded him with the questions the minute the elevator doors opened.

“I’m fine Pep, really. Just missed home, so I came back.”

Pepper crossed her arms and gave him a stern expression

“Six months Steve, we were worried sick. You barely even called to tell us if you were alright.”

“I know I’m sorry, I just-“ Steve sighed, too tired to explain himself. Peppers expression softened and she placed a a soft hand on his cheek.

“He’s waiting for you in the lab, go talk to him.” She said

Steve smiles, silently thanking her

“Where’s Morgan?” He terribly regretted missing time with his baby sister.

“She just fell asleep.”

Nodding, Steve headed toward the lab. Tony was asleep when he entered, probably passed out while he pulled another all nighter.

Steve was still contemplating wether he should wake Tony or not when Tony began to stir.

“Steve?” He asked blearily as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes “When did you get back?”

“Just now.”

Tony stood up and immediately pulled his son into a bear hug.

“Missed you piccolo.”

“I couldn’t find him dad.” Steve choked “He’s out there and he’s hurt and probably needs me but I couldn’t find him.”

Tony didn’t say anything, but simply tightened his hold on Steve. They stood like that for a couple of minutes while Steve tried to compose himself again.

He hadn’t realised how exhausted he was until he could fall into his fathers arms, knowing he’d always catch him.

“Sir it appears the god of thunder and Dr. Bruce have returned from Asgard.” JARVIS announced

“About time, I haven’t heard from them in six months.” Tony said pulling back “The only information we had was a random selfie of Thor with a couple of fan girls outside a nursing home.”

“Nursing home? What on earth would Thor need in a nursing home?” Steve asked incredulously

“Sir, Thor and Dr. Banner aren’t the only ones here. It appears Loki is with them as well.” JARVIS announced

“So the son of a bitch really was alive.” Tony said

“Let them in JARVIS, and turn in some safety protocols just in case. I still don’t trust Loki.” Steve commanded before walking towards the elevator. Tony followed behind, quickly shutting off the projects he was working on.

“About time point break, I was- whoa! What happened to you?” Tony stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Thor. The god of thunder looked way different since he’d last seen him. His long hair had been sheared off and he was wearing a golden eye patch.

“Its a long story Tony and we’ll explain once everyone gets here. I must say it’s good to be back.” Bruce said hugging Tony.

“I missed you to Brucie bear.”

Once the shock of Thor’s new look faded Tony finally moved his attention to Loki who was hovering in the background. Tony didn’t know what he was expecting when he finally saw Loki, this wasn’t it.

The god of mischief was surveying the group with an annoyed look on his face, rolling his eyes when Bruce hugged Steve. But there wasn’t any of the malice in his eyes like before.

“My brothers, we had the greatest and most tiring adventure during our time on Asgard. I must ask you to allow us time to recuperate before we tell you of our tale.” Thor announced in his booming voice

“Of course big guy, you take your time to, rest, or whatever it is you do to relax and we’ll talk over pizzas once the others get here.” Tony said “just one thing, what about him?” He pointed towards Loki

“As charming as always Stark, I’m right here you know?” Loki commented dryly

Steve glared at Loki, taking on a battle stance, ready to restrain Loki if the need arises. Loki once again rolled his eyes at Steve.

“My brother will not be a problem, I promise. He is here to help, just like the lady of death told Steven in his dream.”

“About that, did you really converse with Lady Death?” Loki asked looking interested

“Yeah, why?”

“And she told you to seek my help? She thinks I have the answer to defeating Thanos?” Loki raised his eyebrow questioningly

“What’s your point here?” Steve asked

“If you want my help then I need to know what I get in return.”

Thor let out a long suffering sigh.

“Do not heed my brothers words, he is just, as you Midgardians say, trolling you. Loki wishes Thanos gone more than anyone.”

“Did you teach him modern slang?” Tony asked Steve, who simply shrugged in return.

Thor and Loki went to Thor’s rooms while Bruce went to his. Thor shot Bruce an odd expression before he left and Bruce nodded reassuringly at him.

Something had changed between them, something deep had shifted. Tony was even more curious as to what happened in their time away.

An hour later, the rest of the avengers including Sam and Phil were seated in the main hall, waiting for Thor Bruce and Loki.

Clint was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting next to Phil with a stony expression on his face. Compared to him, Phil was relatively composed. Steve could understand the apprehension the rest of the team had about Loki’s arrival despite what Lady Death had told him in his dream, Phil and Clint more than the others.

“He’s different, still an annoying pain in the ass, but definitely different.” Steve quietly told them

Clint didn’t say anything but Phil gave him a wry smile.

“My friends, it has been too long.” Thor exclaimed as he entered the room.

Everyone pointed out Thor’s new look and hugs were exchanged with the god of thunder and Bruce. With that done, everyone sat down to listen to their story.

“Where is....he?” Clint asked uneasily

“Loki decided it would be best if he remained in my room until I have properly explained everything to you. You’re invisible butler promised to keep an eye on him.” Thor added the last part for Tony

“Okay, tell us from the beginning.” Natasha said

“When Bruce and I arrived on Asgard, we discovered that Loki had faked his death and disguised himself as Odin, banishing the allfather to a nursing home on Midgard. While we travelled the bifrost, an accident happened and Bruce was separated from us when he turned green.” Thor looked at Bruce who squeezed his hand. Everyone had noticed this new dynamic between them.

“I landed on the realm of Surtur before returning to Asgard and Loki and I found the place Odin had been spending in penance when he revealed a secret to us, about our sister.” Thor paused, letting the new information sink in.

“Sister? You have a sister?” Clint asked incredulously

“Indeed little Hawk. I am not, as I was previously led to believe, Odin’s first born. My sister Hela is the strongest among us, the goddess of hell. When she became too destructive Odin locked her away for the good of the nine realms...”

Thor continued telling them the story of Odins death and Hela’s return. For the first time, everyone noticed the absence of mjolnir.

Time must have passed differently when Bruce was blasted to Sakaar, and the two years he spent there. Thor put a comforting hand on Bruce’s shoulder as he recounted that particular story. When Thor was done explaining everything that happened, everyone was gaping at him in shock.

Tony was the first to recover

“So Asgard is destroyed and the people of your kingdom are on a space ship?” Tony asked

“Aye, and we need a new home for them, a new Asgard on earth.” Thor, who was also apparently now King, said

“Dating a King, you really do have high standards Bruce.” Tony commented. Bruce flushed a deep red while Thor simply beamed at him, conforming everyone’s suspicions.

“So you two are together now?” Sam asked

“Indeed son of wil.” Thor said enthusiastically

“It’s not a big deal guys.” Bruce said

“Of course it is, I’m happy for you uncle Bruce.” Steve said while Natasha hugged them both

“You did score high.” Clint winked at him

“There is an uninhibited island not far from here, owned by the government. I’m sure we can negotiate a deal with the president in return for trade and military aid. With the threat of war on earth, a powerful ally like Asgard would be welcomed.” Tony said

“That is wonderful Anthony, I will be forever indebted to you.” Thor exclaimed

“No need for that big guy.”

“The tesseract! If Asgard is destroyed what about the tesseract?” Steve asked

“Do not worry Steven, the tesseract is safe with Heimdall.” Thor answered

“Another thing.” Bruce said “ Thor’s friend Heimdall searched for Loki’s sceptre and he gave us a location. From what he saw, it looked like it was being used for illegal human experimentation by Hydra.”

Steve cursed under his breath. More experiments, more Bucky’s. He wanted-needed, to end hydra once and for all. Natasha had a steely look in her eyes as she processed this information.

“Sokovia huh? We’ll go as soon as possible.” Tony said

“That’s one more stone accounted for.”

—————-

Tony made some calls to Rhodey and the president explaining the situation with Asgard. President Ellis promised to look into the issue as soon as possible.

With that done, the Avengers prepared to leave for Sokovia.

“Loki will be staying on the ship with Heimdall, Valkyrie and the rest of the Asgardians.” Thor announced as they prepared for their journey.

The ride to Sokovia had gone by without incident, but pinpointing which Hydra base held the sceptre was a real trial.

“Finally!” Thor exclaimed when they reached a base with security systems that had energy signatures similar to the stone.

The fight would have been easy, if it weren’t for the twins.

Tony found the sceptre in the trap door with discarded chitauri tech. That wasn’t disturbing at all.

The Chittuari came to life and he wasn’t in that room anymore, but on a battlefield.

Steve had described these dreams enough times for Tony to recognise where he was.

He walked forward and tripped on something. An empty bassinet covered in blood.

Morgan!

Tony ran frantically, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.

“Dad!l” a raspy voice called out. Tony found Steve surrounded by the bodies of- of the avengers.

“You could’ve saved us. Why didn’t you do more?” Steve asked desperately before going still.

Tony screamed

The vision ended as soon as it started and Tony forgot all about it.

“I got the sceptre” he said into his comm and left.

Wanda Maximoff stared at the spot Tony had just been standing in.

“You let them go.” Pietro said

“I thought Starks mind would make him destroy everything he loves with his own hands, but I saw something in his worst fear Pietro. We can’t possibly let this happen.”

“What did you see?”

“A bassinet, his daughter. And Captain America, his son. Losing his children is his worst fear.” Wanda said solemnly

“And what about our family? Our parents?”

“If Stark dies his kids will be left without a father, if we let that happen how does that make us any better?” Wanda asked angrily

Pieteo huffed in anger, knowing his sister was right but too stubborn to admit it.

“We need to warn Stark.” Wanda said

Before either of them could react, a tranquilizer was shot on Pietro’s neck, rendering him unconscious within minutes.

“I wouldn’t do anything funny if I were you.” Strucker said, coming into the room with Soldiers “That dart was poisonous and if you don’t tell me what you know, he’ll die.”

Wanda glared at the man, knowing it was useless. She never did trust Strucker, or Hydra for that matter. But the thirst for revenge overpowered her judgement, now she was paying the price.

“I don’t know anything, I only saw what Stark fears but it doesn’t make sense.”

On the ground, Pietro began to convulse, his skin turning blue. Wanda screamer, kneeling beside him to help him somehow. It was useless of course, she didn’t have any antidote.

“Okay! I’ll tell you. The antidote, please.”

Strucker smirked at her before signalling to a guard. A shock collar was placed securely around her neck and Pietros, preventing them from escaping or using their gifts.

The guards began carrying Pietro out of the room, others restraining Wanda when she tried to stop them.

“He will be treated, but if you don’t start answering my questions you’ll never see him again.” Strucker warned.

She told him everything.

Starks fear of the world ending, the battle field and..

His plan to save everyone.

Ultron.

“I need all of Starks files regarding his project, we’re going to bring Ultron to life.”


	6. If you want blood, you got it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo sorry for the delay

Tony almost went ahead with the plan. It would be so easy, tinkering with the stone and creating Ultron

Before this, he was missing a key element to go ahead with his project, but now the mind stone was the perfect ingredient

He stopped

‘Together.’

Steve’s words were ringing through Tony’s mind and he decided to leave the sceptre alone

They’ll find a way

The dream, Morgan’s bassinet, Steve pleading him to do something

He didn’t understand why those images suddenly hit him, making him collapse on his chair

The sorcerer told him that he was the only one who could find a way to prevent the stones from being used. Why build armour when the threat itself is neutralised?

“JARVIS, scrap project Ultron, and this time make it permanent.” He called out

“A wise decision sir.” JARVIS replied

Tony sighed, feeling considerably lighter than before. He put on a smile and went upstairs to the party

“Sir, there’s been a security breach-“! JARVIS’ words went unheard by the inventor and seconds later, JARVIS went silent

Back in Sokovia

“Sir we have entered Starks mainframe. Transferring files regarding project Ultron.”

“Marvellous! Let’s see Starks plans”

They hack JARVIS’ backup and find the deleted files. Tony had analysed the structure of the mind stone which resembled the brain and found a way to plug it to create Ultron

“He will be connected to the twins if this succeeds. We’ll be able to control him.” Strucker proclaimed

The scientist beside Strucker had a truly disturbed expression as he read through the files

“My my, the universe is lucky Tony Stark chose to be a hero. It would take him less than a day to doom us all should he turn evil.” He said

“I don’t doubt your words doctor.” The baron said “A mind like Tony Stark turned evil is a nightmare even _I_ cannot fathom.”

“The project is working sir, we were able to connect the mind stone with the AI.”

“All we have to do is wait while the Avengers destroy themselves.” Strucker said rather ominously

At the party, no one noticed anything wrong. Sam and Rhodey were exchanging stories from the army while Clint was proudly showing his newly grafted skin to Natasha “I’m made of plastic now.”

“That’s you’re own skin.” From. Helen Cho reminded with a sigh

Thor and Tony were at it again

“...Bruce has 7 phds.”

“...Pepper singlehandedly defeated the leader of the mandarin.”

Steve was on the couch playing with Morgan while Pepper dragged Tony away before he challenged Thor to a fist fight

“It’s Morgan’s bed time, why don’t you put her to sleep?” She suggested

Tony grumbled but picked up Morgan from Steve’s arms and walked to the elevator, whispering conspiratorially in her ear his theories about mjolnir being a trick

Steve shook his head as Thor made his way to him with two glasses

“Drink Brother Steve for we must celebrate our victory. This is Asgardian mead aged a thousand years, no mortal can drink this. But you, I believe are worthy for the drink of the gods.” Thor announced

Steve couldn’t get drunk but he wondered if this would do anything for him. He’d never had a chance to get drunk before and he was curious about how it felt

Pepper arrived out of nowhere and snatched the glass from his hand

“Drink of the gods or no, he’s still 18 Thor. No drinking till he’s 21.” She said firmly

“I apologise lady Pepper, I was unaware of that midgardian custom.” Thor said and took the glass back from her, pouring the whole thing for himself

Steve watched in disappointment and Thor walked over to where uncle Bruce was standing

“I just fought with Nazi scientists, how is a single drink so bad?” He asked Pepper, trying not to sound like a petulant child

Pepper pursed her lips

“Tony and I are aware that you do more things than most grown ups. It only makes us want to give you whatever piece of childhood we can. Is _that_ so bad?” She shot back

Steve immediately felt guilty and gave her a sheepish grin

“I guess that’s fair given the crap you let me get away with.” Steve admitted

“You mean like when you and Natasha sneaked away for almost an hour after you guys returned from the mission?”

Steve face flushed as he instinctively glanced at Natasha who was chatting with Maria

“We didn’t do anything. Besides, it’s not like either of us can get pregnant or something” Steve muttered

Pepper laughed at his mortified expression and playfully ruffled his hair. Her expression suddenly became pensive

“You’re gonna leave again aren’t you?” She asked quietly

“I can’t let the trail go cold. Nat and Sam think I should wait for him to come to us but- but I can’t let it go. Even Nat and I aren’t happy together without him. It’s just not right.”

Pepper put a comforting hand on his shoulder

“Steve, you’re not alone in this. The whole team would help you in a heartbeat if you asked. But before anything, you need to stop feeling guilty for what happened to him.”

Steve was startled by Peppers perceptiveness

Before he could say anything however, Tony came rushing inside with Morgan still in his arms. He quickly gave The sleeping baby to Pepper

“Security breach, something’s wrong. You need to go somewhere safe.” He told her

The music stopped and everyone looked at Tony, waiting for an answer

“Tony what’s wrong?” Pepper asked

“Someone hacked into JARVIS’ mainframe and- god! They plugged in Ultron to the mind stone. The AI is hostile, I suspect a Hydra job.” Tony explained while he ushered Pepper outside. Shooting a last startled look at everyone, Pepper left the building with Happy who Tony had called on his way up

Just then a suit of armour stumbled into the room, slurring in confused voices and saying it had to kill the other man

“JARVIS!” Steve exclaimed “of course, he was the first line of defence.”

Tony felt his heart clench, JARVIS was the last reminder of his beloved butler

The fight ensued with Ultron taking control of the iron legion. Finally, the AI possessing the suit of armour flew out of the window, leaving behind a very confused team of superheroes

“I thought you scrapped project Ultron.” Steve yelled accusingly

Before Tony could reply, Thor had him in a chokehold

“Hey! Back off Thor!” Steve yelled the same time Tony wheezed “use your words buddy.”

“You meddle with things beyond your understanding.” Thor bellowed

Tony coughed before laughing derisively

“What’s so funny?” Steve asked

“None of you realise what’s going to happen. What’s up there? Thats the endgame. We can’t fight it the way we are.”

“I thought we agreed to do it together, that you’d discuss with the group before making decisions like this.” Steve asked

“I did. Project Ultron was scrapped, I shut it down. Someone hacked into our servers and did this. I just can’t figure out how.” Tony muttered the last part to himself

“The twins!” Natasha exclaimed “They were genetically enhanced using the mind stone.”

“He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation.” Maria supplied

Everyone in the room not a scientist looked at her funny

“He’s fast, she’s wierd.” She amended

“Yes and the girl, Wanda , she could probably control minds. Maybe she read yours.” Natasha suggested

Tony suddenly remembered the terrible vision he’d had

“She made me see my worst fears, which lead to me tinkering with the stone in the first place. She must’ve told Strucker about my plans, which is how they knew exactly how to hack into my systems.” Tony hypothesised

“We’re on the Internet, Ultron leaked all avengers files, our locations weaknesses. Everything.”

“This is worse than when SHIELD collapsed” Sam said rubbing the back of his neck

“He killed Strucker. The hydra rat got what he deserved for messing with my systems. But he now has the crazy twins as allies.”

“All the data we have has been wiped.” Bruce said

“Not everything.” Tony said

They were pouring through the files in front of them for someone Tony once dealt with, Ulysses Klaus

“He’s smuggling something from Wakanda.” Bruce said

“I thought Howard had the last supply?” Steve asked Tony

“Why, what’s in Wakanda?”

Tony and Steve looked at the shield lying in a corner

“The strongest metal on earth.”

“Maybe we should warn the king of wakanda about this man.” Natasha suggested “Vibranium is a versatile metal and can be used to make a multitude of weapons, the last thing we need is it falling in wrong hands.”

“That’s already done if Ultron gets to Klaus.” Tony said “but you’re right, maybe Wakanda will extend help in exchange for information.”

“They’re a reclusive country, I don’t know if that’ll work.” Steve said

“It’s worth a try, I’ll go talk to the president right now. I need to warn him about the new situation anyway.” Rhodey said and took off at once

“I’ll go with Rhodes, see if I can help.” Sam said and flew off with redwing

“Let’s go.” Tony said

————

So fighting Ultron ended up really bad for them. Like really bad

Tony blamed that little witch for everything

Natasha could barely move as the visions of the red room took her over. Thor looked like he’d seen a ghost and Steve looked...lost. The Hulk was currently wrecking the city

Tony’s armour protected him from the mind control and Clint electrified Wanda before she could touch him

“For the record, I didn’t mean to tell Strucker about your plans, he tortured it out of us.” Wanda confessed as Tony confronted The twins and Ultron “But Ultron saved us from him. He wants to save the world, he showed me. Don’t try to stop him.” She said

“He’s manipulating you. You kids can still walk away.” Tony said “Let us deal with him.”

It started with the AI he created sassing him before kicking his butt in a fight

“Nothing is meant to be broken.”

“Clearly you never made an omelet.”

Yup. All in all, bad day

Then they had to take cover and find a safe house because apparently, the world now thought they were the bad guys. They piled into their quinjet looking for a place to lay low

“The suns going down” Thor whispered softly to Bruce who was slowly turning back “it’s okay, I’m here.”

Tony felt a pang of longing when he saw them comfort each other. To a corner, Steve had his arm around Natasha, softly talking her out of the horrible visions

He missed Pepper

“We’re the only ones left, want me to kiss you goodnight?” Clint asked waggling his eyebrows

“You wish you could Barton.” Tony shot

“We need to get somewhere safe.” Steve said

“I know a safe a house” Clint said

Safe house turned out to be a barn in the middle of no where

“Hey! I’m home. And we have company.” Clint called as they entered

Steve pulled Clint out of the way just in time for an arrow(albeit a dummy one) to come wheezing past Clints head

“Damn! I almost got you.” A dark haired girl who looked about 18 walked out of a room

“Yeah, almost. Still missed.” Clint said with a snort

“He’s a super soldier! Of course he heard me.” The girl protested

“I can sneak past him without him noticing.” Clint scoffed

Steve, who had been too shocked to say anything before broke from his reverie

“No you can’t” he told Clint

“I totally can.”

“Is anyone gonna tell me why there’s a teenager here?” Tony asked loudly

“Guys, this is Kate Bishop, my protégé. Kate, you know who they are.” Clint introduced

“We’re sorry to intrude.” Steve said politely

“Yeah we were too busy not knowing you existed.” Tony added

“Where’s Nat?” The girl, Kate asked

“Why don’t you hug her and find out?” Natasha said and gave Kate a big hug

“Your protégé?” Bruce asked

“Yup. Kate is almost as good as I am with a bow.(“almost?” Kate protested “yes, shut up.” Clint said) I took her in when she was 13 and started training her after school. Nick Fury helped me set this up.” Clint explained

Tony was awestruck. How had Clint manage to keep this a secret for so long?

Once the shock of seeing Kate wore off, the team settled down immediately

“I had a vision about the stones. Stark was right.” Thor said “I must go somewhere, it will help me better understand these visions.”

“Where? I’ll come with you.” Bruce said

“No, you’re needed here. I’ll come back as soon as we’re done, I promise.” Thor said

He left before anyone could stop him

“What can I do to help?” Kate asked enthusiastically

“You can stay home and practice” Clint said

“I’m 17 Clint, I can take care of myself.” She argued

Tony shot a sympathetic look towards Clint, that was an argument he’d heard enough times from his son and he knew it would only get worse

“Right now we need to figure out what we can do. I’ll let you help once we have a plan.” Clint conceded

“Until then, can you help me clean my guns?” Natasha asked and lead her to a shed outside the house

“You’re not serious are you?” Tony asked Clint

“I’ve been training her since she was 13, she can hold her ground.” Clint said shrugging “I’m not gonna let her wander off towards danger or anything, just something small so she gets off my case.” He added at Tony’s incredulous expression

Bruce and Natasha still seemed quite effected by the mind magic. Steve didn’t seem as dazed as the rest, although Tony knew something was wrong

“What did you see?” He asked when they were outside chopping wood for the barn

Steve hesitated for a moment

“I was dancing at a bar with Peggy, she told me we could go home. Except, i didnt know where that was.” Steve said

“You’re home is with us.” Tony stated

“Sometimes, I’m not sure which time I belong to. You’d thing the answer was obvious but this timeline isn’t really the one I grew up in. Past...future-my home is gone.”

“Your home is with me, us. Your family.” Tony said fiercely

Before they could say anything else, however, Kate interrupted them

“Clint said you wouldn’t mind, my favourite bow is broken, can you please look at it?” She asked sweetly

“Sure, where is it little hawk?” Tony asked

“In the barn.” Tony walked in the direction she pointed, leaving her alone with Steve

“How did you convince you’re dad to let you lead a dangerous team at 18?” She immediately asked Steve

He raised his eyebrows in surprise

“Hello to you too.” He said

“Not in the mood for niceties, the world is apparently ending and I want to help. I’m not sitting in the sidelines and watching.” She said fiercely

She reminded him so much of himself, he could clearly empathise with her

“Clint trained you so you must be good, but training is not the same as real life. Things are always different in battle and the first mission you go on shouldn’t be one where the stakes are so high.”

“You’re first mission was world war 2.” Kate shot back

Touché

“That was different. Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t join the team. Despite what Clint said, you almost did trick me. You’d be a valuable asset to the Avengers but for that to work, you need to be able to work with the team. We can’t put yours or anybody else’s lives in danger without being 100 percent sure.” Steve reasoned

“I just want to help.” Kate said

“You will. After all this is over we’ll talk to Clint about the two of you moving in with the Avengers. I will personally train you in other combat styles and you can come with me on missions, nothing big, but a start”

”I’m well trained, I don’t need your approval to go out.” She said

steve let out an irritated sigh

”You still missed.” He pointed out 

“You said I almost tricked you.”

”Maybe I was just patronising you.” Steve said smugly. She raised her brow challengingly

”You want to bet? Natasha taught me stealth, she says I’m the best she’s ever seen since, well, herself.” 

That was impressive

”Avengers Tower, as soon as this mess is finished. I win and you have to train with me, I’m talking 5am runs, a hundred push ups and basically busting your ass in the gym.”

”And if I win?” 

“I’ll let you come on a mission with me...and I’ll let you lead it.” Steve said

kate beamed at him

”You are so gonna get you’re ass handed to you.”

”I wouldn’t be so cocky.” Steve shot back 

“Bring it on Spangles.”

”You know what Bishop, I’m gonna have so much fun watching you suffer in the gym.”

They both smirked at each other. Kate’s expression turned worried 

“Will Clint agree?”

“Agree to what?” Clint asked

Kate turned to see Clint standing behind them and immediately ran back to the house

“Okay, what was that about?” Clint asked

“She wanted to come with us to stop Ultron.”

“Don’t tell me you said yes. That’s not your call Rogers.” He warned

“It’s Rogers-Stark and no, I didn’t say yes. But I told her I’d train her after this is over and take her on small ops with me.” Steve said shrugging

“She’ll hold you to that, you shouldn’t have-“

“Kate reminds me of myself and if I’m right, saying no would just make her more adamant to go out on her own. You remember how I was after dad grounded me right?” Steve asked

Clint shut his mouth and sighed in resignation

“I know I trained her but sometimes I wish I hadn’t. She deserves a normal life and not the shitty version we live.”

“It’s not all that bad. Look Clint, whether you train her or not, she would’ve gone down this path. I’m just glad she had someone to guide her and teach her with love, something none of us had.” Steve said wistfully

Clint clapped his shoulder

“You two would make good friends, she’s been lonely for a while now.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be at each other’s throats for most part but yeah, we’ll get along.”

“Nick Fury’s here by the way.” Clint said and started walking inside

“Nick-? What’s he doing here?”

Steve followed Clint inside the house

They listened to what Nick had to say while formulating a plan

Ultron has hordes of Vibranium he was using to create a body for himself, which just, what?

Like what even?

Dr. Helen Cho would be his first target no doubt so they had to find her. Then they had to destroy his body and delete him from existence

Piece of cake right?

They also had a mysterious helper who was hacking into Ultrons plans

Huh

Naturally, the plan went to shit almost immediately

Actually, the plan went to shit when Natasha went missing

Steve could barely breathe when he told Clint to get the casket and get out of there. He hated it, hated himself for not looking for Natasha. But the mission was important

The mission is always important

He was so tired

————

The maximoff twins helped him save several civilians from the iron legions attack. Steve was tempted to restrain them, but he could see they realised their mistake and wanted redemption

The fact remained that Wanda manipulated his dad and that still ticked him off

Brainwashed teenager manipulated into commiting crimes they didn’t realise they were doing

That sounded so much like Bucky, Steve felt the need to help these twins

“Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?” Wanda asked him

Steve’s blood turned cold. What was his dad planning?

“Dad, stop this. Whatever it is can’t be worth the risk.” Steve said when he reached Tony and Bruce

“We’re uploading JARVIS into the body, he’ll help us delete Ultron.” Tony explained

“JARVIS?”

“He went underground, he’d been helping us this whole time. Trust me on this kid.” Tony said

“You don’t have enough power to load this.” Steve said

Just then, Thor came out from the sky and slammed a bolt of lightening on the body, awakening the robot

The vision, Their newest member

Bruce rescued Natasha while the rest of them went to Sokovia along with the twins. Steve found Wanda’s fascination of Vision rather weird. Pietro seemed to agree

Once they reached Sokovia and Ultrons plans became clear, they worked together again. A flying city

Great. They had a lot of work to do

Enough fighting, enough secrets

“Son, you’ve got incoming.” Tony said

“Incoming already came in. Dad, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off.” Steve said

The fight went on

“You’ll never save them all.” Ultron said “You’ll never-“ Steve got annoyed and threw the robot off a cliff

“You'll never what? You didn't finish!” He yelled. Thor landed beside him just then “What, were you nappin?”

“Alright, we’re all clear here.” Clint said

“We are not clear! We are very not clear!” Steve yelled

”we’re coming to you.” Clint said

“Keep up old man!” Pietro zoomed past Clint. Clint aimed his bow at the boys back

“Nobody would know. Nobody. "The last I saw him, when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already." He muttered

“Don’t kill Pietro.” Steve Warned

“I’ll let you know that’s a struggle that must be rewarded.” Clint grumbled

Natasha joined Steve in the battle and he threw his shield at her in time

“Thanks.” She said smiling at him

“I love you.” He said

“Back at you.”

“You two are gross.” Pietro muttered as he whipped past them. Steve flipped him off

They had to get these people of the rock.

“I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.” Steve said

“I didn't say we should leave.” Natasha said, Steve turned to look at her “There's worse ways to go. Where else am I gonna get a view like this?”

Steve held her hand for a brief second, Buckys absence hanging heavily between them

“I’m glad you liked the view romanoff.” Nick said

Hope

They had help

They’d make it out

They fought together and destroyed Ultron

Everyone made it out alive

“I thought we almost lost you for a second.” Clint said

Pietro scoffed

“I once saved several people from a large burning building with enough time to eat pizza while I was at it.” He said smugly

“It’s a shame the bullet wasn’t faster.” Clint grumbled

“Admit it old man, you like me.”

“These two the newest members of Barton’s Barn agents?” Tony asked

“They just might be.”

“Good thing I got a better place for that.”

————-

Avengers Compound

A place to train new recruits and prepare an army in time for Thanos’ attack

Aside from Sam and Rhodey, Kate, Wanda and Pietro were the newest trainees with more to come

Steve had taken leadership of the teens, dubbing then the young Avengers

Tony was leading the original team

“You deserve it Tony, we cant think of a better leader.” Natasha said

“Even after Ultron?”

“You we’re trying to protect us, save us. That just proves you’re the best for this job.”

Thor and Bruce we’re back to the ship, rehabilitating the Asgardians. Loki , who had been outside earth during the battle came back with news

“The other galaxies have just found out about the existence of the stones and their true power. With two of them on earth, it makes this planet a target.” He told them all

Steve and Tony looked at each other

“You know what to do.” Tony said

“Avengers...Assemble.”


	7. Smells like teen spirit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team bonding and fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning in advance - the dates are all a bit off so please ignore
> 
> Also this chapter ended up being shorter than I intended so sorry for that

After the events of Ultron, the worlds governments were made aware, to certain extent, the threat that loomed over the universe. Naturally, most leaders suggested creating advanced weapons using the stones  
Like that ever went well  
Instead the Stones were kept safely using the combined tech of earth and Asgard. Thor and Loki had even brought the aether to earth for safekeeping  
A month after Ultron, a man visited the compound  
Dr. Strange  
The man barely had time to open his mouth before Tony socked him in the jaw, breaking his hand In the process  
“Okay I know some alternate version of me deserved that, but will you at least hear me out first?” Dr. Strange said  
“I’m sorry about that.” Steve muttered while Thor and Clint held Tony back “We’ve been expecting you.”  
“The ancient one told me everything just before she passed.” Strange admitted  
Steve felt a pang of regret  
“She’s dead?” He asked  
“She named me Sorcerer Supreme. I live in the New York Sanctum now so I will be available to help whenever I can, it’s the least I can do. If what you say is real then Thanos’ plan could cause harm to the very fabric of the universe.” He said  
Steve found it unsettling to see the man standing in front of him. In theory, he knew it wasn’t really the same man. They were both from different realities. But a part of him still wished he could grab the guys stupid( really cool!!) cape and demand why it had to be him  
He sighed, Long since having accepted his fate and decided it wasn’t of any use to question it anymore  
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. No child should have to go through what you did.” Strange said sincerely  
“It’s not your fault. The Avengers would be lucky to have you on our side.”  
“I don’t think your father agrees.”  
Steve saw from his periphery Tony trying to point his repulsors at Strange while a harried looking Pepper was trying to talk him out of it. Although Pepper herself didn’t look like she wanted to stop Tony  
“He’s angry now but he’ll get used to it. Trust me, you both would make a great team.”  
Strange nodded, looking unconvinced  
“I better leave now. Just so you know, the time stone is safe with me and the sorcerers will come over to place more protection on the stones.” He said and left without another word  
The Avengers, both young and old, were preparing for battle everyday  
After the threat of Thanos was revealed, King T’Chaka of Wakanda sent his children, crown Prince T’Challa and Princess Shuri to work with Avengers and help where they could  
The black Panther proved to be a worthy addition to the team while Tony could barely contain his excitement at working with someone as extraordinarily smart as Shuri  
Tony lead the Avengers on missions, sometimes outside earth, battling new threats now that four of the six stones were on earth making the planet vulnerable to numerous attacks just as Loki had predicted  
Coming to Loki, Amora the enchantress striked again this time attacking Loki. After Asgard relocated to earth Amora was brought here in a high security prison, much to Tony’s chagrin  
She escaped and came after Steve, who was saved by Loki taking the hit of her spell for him. Except something went wrong because now Loki was stuck in a teenagers body with no way to turn back  
“Her magic must’ve somehow reacted with his and made the spell more powerful and thus, permanent.” Thor hypothesised  
“You saved my life Loki.” Steve said in amazement  
“It was an accident and one I will never repeat.” Loki snarled  
“Thanks anyway.”  
“This is why I don’t play hero.” Loki muttered in disgust. The young god was now less powerful than before and seemed to have the mindset of a teenager, despite retaining memories of his past life  
“Think of it as penance for your past mistakes brother. This might be a good experience for you.” Thor said, not bothering to hide how hilarious he found the situation. Tony had to admit, kid Loki was kinda cute and innocent looking. Was this how he looked before Odin completely fucked him up with his ignorance?  
Anyway, that was how Loki ended up joining the young Avengers  
Speaking of the young Avengers, Steve was leading them and he’d gotten the break he so desperately needed  
There wasn’t the constant pressure of missions, the older team took care of that with him occasionally accompanying them. Instead he trained his new team and hung out with people his age, getting to be a teenager again  
He was home  
At some point, the media got to know about this new team. The young Avengers, who were also being called the teen brigade, had become the most trending news overnight. Between calling them a hope for a better era and the newest and most dangerous teen menace, the team became really popular in the news  
Which meant more people wanted to join and wanted to help save the world  
They were getting applications, honest to god resumes, from teenagers wanting to join. Not just teenagers but the old team too but mostly the teens  
At some point in all this, a part of the avengers compound had been dubbed the Avengers Academy and the new recruits became its students  
That’s how the old avengers decided to take classes with carefully drafted time tables and syllabus and tests, the whole shebang  
Tony and Bruce took over the science and tech department, easily the most popular teachers. Mostly because Bruce was easygoing and didn’t have the heart to tell anyone off and Tony was basically just an overgrown child himself  
Clint taught archery, sword fighting, shooting and physics. The last one came as bit of a surprise but when the new recruits realised just how much physics was involved in the combat styles of each avenger, they were scrambling to learn the subject better in a combat point of view  
Natasha taught Espionage and hacking and her own style of combat. Hers was considered the most difficult subject, mostly because no one could ever hope to outsmart the worlds deadliest assassin. Kate came close but she was still behind by a long shot  
Thor taught about aliens and various creatures from outside the planet which proved to be extremely useful with the new creatures they had to fight everyday. Even the older avengers took this ‘subject’  
T’Challa was an honorary teacher who taught politics whenever he visited  
Even Stephen Strange had a place in the academy, visiting whenever he was free to teach the students about the mystical arts and helping them master simple but extremely useful spells like basic healing, sending out signals for help, tracking spells and a few others  
When he wasn’t learning, Steve taught a few things himself. Battle strategy and formations, manoeuvres and hand to hand combat, strength training and exercise, and overall fitness were a few of the things he taught  
Sam was the councillor, the person everyone went to when the pressure became too much and they needed a break. Sam started a tradition of giving out homemade cookies to everyone who visited him as a reward for talking about their problems after he realised how emotionally constipated each member was  
SHIELD operated from the avengers HQ and with Phil Coulson as the new director, Nick Fury was left with a new job- principle of the Avengers Academy. He took on the role with great gusto which meant nightmare detentions for the students - and yes, they had actual detention. Every time a recruit left the compound to go sneak out on missions or skip lessons, they had to face Fury’s wrath  
The young avengers had started out with Steve, Kate, Wanda, Pietro and surprisingly, Vision. Oh, and we can’t forget Loki  
More members joined within weeks. Harley Keener and his mom had moved to New York and the young prodigy became a part of Tony’s science club along with Shuri  
Both Shuri and Harley had no interest in field jobs and combat, both perfectly satisfied tinkering with every piece of tech they could get their hands on. Nonetheless, Steve still bullied Harley into learning self defence, much to the younger boys chagrin  
“Why do I need to defend myself when I’ve got you.” He said with mock praise. Steve made him run extra laps for that and he stopped complaining  
Another recruit had been....Bucky. He had walked into the avengers compound two months after Ultron with his memory partially back  
Tony bumped into him at the doorway  
“Hey watch where- oh!” Tony looked at the boy in front of him with shock  
First came the flare of anger, this was the man who killed his parents. Then came the realisation that, holy shit this kid couldn’t be older than Steve!!!  
Tony remembered that Bucky had in fact been 19 when he fell off that train and was subjected to unspeakable horrors at that tender age. The list of experiments that had been conducted on Steve went through Tony’s mind and he could see the same things happening to Bucky, only worse because they never stopped  
The son in Tony felt hatred towards the man but the father in Tony felt a fierce sense of protectiveness towards the kid in front of him  
Besides, he owed it to Buckys mother. Mrs. Barnes has taken care of his child when he wasn’t there to do that, now it was his turn to return the favour  
All of this hit him in a matter of seconds and Tony stared at Bucky with an awestruck expression  
Bucky shuffled awkwardly, glancing nervously around him looking so lost and confused and scared!  
Any doubts Tony had washed away and he put an arm around Bucky’s shoulder leading him inside  
“Come on son, Steve and Natasha have been waiting for you.”  
Bucky looked startled but he followed Tony inside nonetheless and no sooner had they stepped into the lobby, they were assaulted by 200 pounds of blond puppy  
“Buck! You’re- you’re here! Oh god, Bucky! Thank god you’re back.” Steve exclaimed as he hugged his best friend  
“Steve?” Bucky said uncertainly  
“Yes! You remember?” Steve asked  
“I think. This is the future?” He asked  
“We don’t have to pretend anymore.” Steve said fondly  
Bucky looked confused for a moment. He looked around, taking in the facility and the tech around him. Vision and Wanda were practising flying with Sam at a distance, pietro was zooming across the grounds at lightening speed, Thor and the hulk were wrestling and basically destroying the lawn around them while Kate was shooting arrows at Loki who kept vanishing and appearing at different places  
Steve wondered if this would all be too much for Bucky  
Bucky frowned as he looked everywhere and turned to Tony  
“Where is it?” He asked  
“Huh.” Tony replied intelligently  
“Howard said it would happen in the future. Where’s the flying car?” He asked  
Tony stared at him with a dumbstruck expression while Steve burst out laughing  
“Where’s- where’s Natalia?” Bucky asked suddenly  
“Right behind you Soldier.” Natasha was smiling widely with tears in her eyes as she ran forward, pulling Bucky into a hug  
“James.” She breathed  
Steve smiles through his own tears as he hugged them both. Tony walked away to give them some space  
“Steve’s he’s back, he came back to us.” Natasha cried  
“ I know Nat. He’s here and we’re together now. It all gonna be alright.”  
It took some time to get used to but Bucky adjusted quickly enough. Shuri managed to help rid Bucky of the brainwashing and Bucky was normal again. Explaining the complexities of their relationship was hard but Bucky sort of just, went with it. After everything each of them had been through, it made sense they made something like this work out without much confusion  
They were all messed up, broken and needed each other. The rest could be figured out later. Right now Bucky was cuddled between his boyfriend and girlfriend and there was nowhere else he’d rather be  
The team took Buckys arrival pretty well without making him feel weird  
“I just realised something.” Harley yelled excitedly while Steve was introducing Bucky to everyone in the communal hall  
“What?” Steve asked  
“The greatest plot twist in the history of movies and he’s the only surviving adult who hasn’t gotten any spoilers.” Harley proclaimed dramatically  
The whole room went silent for a minute before all hell broke lose  
“All right team listen up, we’re on a mission here to educate a man about the most important phase of pop culture, who’s getting the popcorn?” Steve asked  
“Already on it.” Clint said as he Sam and Kate went into the kitchen  
“JARVIS has all the movies lined up in the home theatre, without the awful prequels.” Tony said  
“Thank god for that. We’ve got the pillows and blankets ready.” Natasha said carrying a mountain of fluffy blankets in her hand. Harley, Shuri and Bruce trailing behind her with the rest  
Thor had already watched the movies with Jane and Loki insisted he wasn’t interested in “insipid space movies for children.” But they both dutifully brought drinks for everyone- soda for the kids, beer for the adults  
They all settled in front of the building g screen, cuddling together in the oversized sofas or laying in the blanket fort on the ground as the Star Wars marathon began  
Bucky was squashed between Steve and Nat as the movies started playing  
Watching movies about space aliens and warriors and futuristic tech, Bucky felt more like himself than he did since before the war.  
He was safe, they were together now  
————  
The newest person to join the team was Riri Williams, a 15 year old genius attending MIT that made a suit of armour similar to Iron man and dubbed it Iron Heart. After she helped stop prisoners from escaping their cell in Mexico, Tony offered to endorse Riri and she joined the young avengers under Tony’s tutelage  
The team was getting stronger every day  
If Thanos still decided to invade, he wouldn’t know what hit him  
Life went on  
One day, Steve and Tony had an argument about better training styles and battle plans. Tony developed new tech to predict strategies beforehand while Steve believed in good old fashioned human instinct  
That lead to a bet to see who’s strategies were better  
The avengers, young and old, were asked to chose one side and Both teams would have a friendly match to test their skills  
Not only would this prove whose strategy was better but would also give better insight to the teammates fighting styles and a good opportunity for the trainees to test their skills  
This bet between father and son had gained popularity and within the compound, people were calling it the Civil War and soon, bets were being placed as people took sides- team cap or team iron man  
Bucky, Sam, Clint, Wanda, Scott Lang(newest member of Tony’s Avengers and huge fan of Steve , “traitor.” Tony had muttered.) Kate, Thor, and surprisingly, Dr. Strange  
“He’s just feeling guilty. I bet he doesn’t agree with your plan.” Tony muttered vehemently  
“Jealous I got your boyfriend?” Steve teased  
“I don’t have a crush on him.”  
“Pretty sure you do Tony.” Pepper piped in without looking up from her tablet  
Tony gritted his teeth. Pepper had bet on Steve and Tony pretended to be angry about it  
“Well I got your girlfriend so that makes us even.” Tony said smugly  
Steve glared at Natasha  
“Sorry Steve, I love you and James, but love won’t make me pick the losing side.” Natasha said  
“We’re going on that date without you, see if we don’t.” Steve threatened  
“I’d like to see you try.” Natasha challenged  
“Why’d you say things we’d never dare try?” Bucky whispered in Steve’s ears. Steve groaned internally  
“You’d think Riri is on Tony’s side because he’s her role model but really, it’s her crush on Loki.” Kate grumbled  
Lately Loki had taken to wearing his - her female form and Riri couldn’t take her eyes off her since. Steve had a feeling Loki knew that and was secretly flattered about it  
“I’m sorry Wanda.” Vision said apologetically as he joined Tony’s team  
“I’m gonna kick both you’re asses.” Pietro snarked at Wanda and Clint  
“He’s in Tony’s team just to annoy us isn’t he?” Clint murmured to Wanda  
“What do you think?” She replied  
Thor felt similar betrayal when Bruce and Loki decided to be on the opposite team  
“Sorry sweetheart, but science first.” Bruce said  
“First Jane and now Bruce, science always takes my love away from me.” Thor lamented dramatically  
T’Challa took Tony’s side, while Shuri and Harley both announced that everyone was being immature and childish and they were above such petty fights. Steve knows for a fact that the two of them bet on the fight, Harley on Tony and Shuri on him  
Finally it was war time. Tony flew them all to an abandoned airport terminal so no one could disturb the fight  
It started out pretty even. They all trained together and knew each other’s fighting patterns and weaknesses. For a moment, it looked like Team Cap was winning  
Until  
“Underoos!!” Tony yelled  
Something in red and blue spandex flew out and  
Stole Steve’s shield  
With webs!!  
Spider man!!  
“Okay. Cap . . . Captain. Big fan, I'm Peter Parker, uhum- I mean Spider-Man.” He said  
“What the actual..?” Bucky exclaimed beside Steve  
“Hey! That’s cheating.” Kate yelled  
“It’s called the element of surprise. Can’t handle a 14 year old?” Tony said  
Wanda, who’d been chucking cars at the kid paused and looked at Tony  
“14!!” She shrieked  
“It’s such an honour to be here.” The kid yelled “you have a metal arm? That’s awesome dude!” He exclaimed as he blocked Bucky’s punch singlehandedly  
“Those wings carbon fiber?” He asked Sam  
“Is this stuff coming out of you?” Sam asked  
“That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that's awesome, man.” The kid exclaimed  
“ I don't know if you've been in a fight before but there's usually not this much talking.” Sam advices  
“Alright, sorry, my bad.” He swung down and Bucky jumped in the way. Bucky and Sam fall through the glass down onto the next floor and Peter webbed then  
“Guys, look. I'd love to keep this up but I've only got one job here today and I gotta impress Mr. Stark, so, l'm really sorry.” Redwing drags Peter through the glass wall. “Wwahhhh!” He yelled  
“You couldn’t have done that before?” Bucky asked  
“I hate you,” Sam shot back  
Steve reached them to find them bickering with each other  
“Cut it out! Couldn’t take on a kid.” Steve muttered to himself as he cut out the webs  
“Do you have a kid I don’t know about?” Bucky asked abruptly  
“-what?” Steve sputtered  
“Then why is there some 12 year old running around picking fights with people twice his size? Maybe a brother perhaps?” He asked  
“I don’t have a brother-“ Steve started but turned to see the spider kid with his father hovering protectively above him “...yet.” He amended  
Bucky scoffed  
“C’mon.” Steve said “I need to properly welcome the kid into the family.”  
“That thing does not follow the laws of physics.” The kid said as Steve cut his webbing using the shield  
“Mr. Stark said to go for the legs.” He strapped Steve’s ankle with webbing  
“Oh yeah, dad tell you anything else?” Steve asked  
“Um yeah..” he said awkwardly “You lose, he gets to add whatever upgrades he wants to your suit.”  
“Fair enough, but not happening.”  
“He also said if you cheat, you’re grounded.”  
“I’m 19!” Steve protested  
As they fought, Steve estimated the kids strength. He threw the gangway on him  
Peter caught it  
“You got heart kid, where you from?” He asked  
“Q-queens.” Peter sputtered  
Steve chuckled “Brooklyn.” He said and headed towards the rest of the fight  
“Really, you just threw that on a kid?” Tony asked Steve as he shit him with low powered repulsors  
“I knew he could take it.” Steve said  
The fight ended with a tie  
Translation- the fight ended when every single participant was on the ground, unable to move  
“I think we can agree to both our strategies.” Tony conceded  
“Tech upgrades without blindly relying on them alone.” Steve agreed “Great fight guys, now shoo. Go rest or whatever.” Steve said, groaning as he sat up  
“Wait! Now who gets the money?” Harley asked  
The rest of the team collectively groaned, knowing that was going to be another exhausting fight  
The young avengers wanted to formally welcome Peter to the group once everyone rested after the match and went back to the compound  
“Hey Spidey, good fight. Stealing caps shield, that’s impressive.” Kate said  
“Thanks. You’re hawkeye’s protege right?” Peter asked  
“Yup. I’m Kate, that’s Wanda the wierd one, pietro the fast one and Riri, the one with the iron man knockoff.” Kate summarised  
Riri punched Kate’s shoulder  
“It’s called Iron Heart and Tony himself said my designs were as good as his.” She said haughtily  
“Almost as good.” Kate corrected  
“Whatever birdbrain.” Riri grumbled  
“Are you two together?” Peter asked innocently  
Kate and Riri looked appalled at the idea while the twins were practically on the floor laughing. Everyone in the compound knew Kate and Riri had been fighting with each other sine the day they met, but it was also clear to everyone that Kate was getting increasingly jealous of Riri’s crush on Loki.  
“No way!” Kate exclaimed the same time Riri shouted “Ew.”  
“Oh, Sorry.” Peter said  
“Don’t worry about them.” Pietro said “We wanted to welcome you to the team. Are you gonna be staying at the academy?”  
“Um, no. My aunt doesn’t know about this and she’d kill me if she found out. I’m just gonna train here after school.” Peter said a little ruefully  
“Shame, you would’ve had fun here. We still have to learn boring stuff like history and languages but the rest is cool.” Kate said  
“Those of us who already have a degree don’t need to learn the boring stuff” Riri said smugly  
Kate rolled her eyes but didn’t answer  
“Sorry about the cars, I seriously thought you were older.” Wanda said  
“Don’t worry. Really, I was worried you guys would treat me differently cause I’m the youngest.” Peter said, gnawing at his lip  
“Oh no, 14 or not, our fearless leader is gonna ride your ass just like the rest of us.” Pietro said  
“Mr. Stark?” Peter asked  
“No, his son. Captain America-Steve. The guy who’s shield you stole.” Wanda said  
“I’m a huge fan of cap. I was this close to hyperventilating.” Peter said  
“Aren’t we all? Don’t let the wholesome, all American boy persona fool you, caps ruthless when it comes to training.” Riri said  
“Scaring the new boy?” Harley asked, joining the group “ugh, Steve’s my friend and I love him but honestly, the guys a nightmare. Can you believe he’s making me do drills with him tomorrow because I didn’t participate today? I’m Harley by the way, Harley Keener.” He said giving Peter a fist bump  
“It doesn’t seem that bad. I’m honestly excited about training.” Peter said  
The other teenagers exchanged cryptic looks  
“How did you get your...abilities anyway?” Harley asked  
“Bitten by a radioactive spider.”  
“And you just decided to, what, roll with it? A spider makes you super strong and shoot webs and you decide to save the city instead of, I don’t know, go to the doctor or something?” Kate asked  
“...pretty much yeah. Except the webs come from my web shooters.” Peter said, showing them his wrist  
“But seriously, didn’t you think it could be dangerous? That you’d need to talk to someone?” Riri asked incredulously  
“I did freak out at first but then I realised I could use them to help people so I did. It’s not that big of a deal really.” Peter said shrugging  
Once again, the teenagers exchanged a cryptic look  
“Oh my god!” Wanda started  
“It’s freaky, how similar they sound.” Kate said  
Riri murmured something under her breath that sounded like ‘another reckless dumbass’  
“Tony has no idea what he brought himself into.” Harley said with barely suppressed glee “FRIDAY, I want you to record the precious moment when Tony realises what he did.”  
“You got it Harley.” the AI replied and was she supposed to sound so sassy?  
Peter looked around him dumbfounded, not understanding the fuss  
“Shit! I gotta go. May’s gonna kill me if I’m late.” Peter said and waved at everyone as e swung out of the compound  
Months later, Tony would find Peter in the middle of a dangerous mission and scream at him about his recklessness  
“Are you out of your mind?”  
“I’m my defence, just because I have spidey sense doesn’t mean I have common sense.” The kid said and Tony’s mind flashes back to the day Steve once said  
“The serum made me stronger not smarter.”  
That was the day Tony realised he had not one but two sons who would make it there life’s goal to give him a heart attack  
FRIDAY recorded the whole thing and sent it to Harley who fell off his chair laughing in class. The detention was worth it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So civil war is done so that means no accords?  
Yes?  
Nope  
The big fight is yet to come  
I have a few blank spots regarding the future of the fic and if anyone has any suggestions, any requests of what they’d like to see happen next please feel free to drop your suggestions in the comment box  
Love y’all


	8. When the levee breaks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sooooooo sorry for the delay!!! So much work at college, way too many assignments 
> 
> I’ll be honest with y’all, I’m not gonna be periodic in posting these chapters
> 
> Well, there’s only a few more chapters left before I’m done with this  
It’s been great writing this, I’ve had so much fun  
Hope you guys enjoy this

Since Loki had been turned into a teenager the god of mischief had been somewhat...subdued  
Sure he still pulled the occasional prank and Thor’s hair stayed green for a week the last time, but he was nowhere near the likes of the super villain they all battled almost three years ago  
After their little ‘civil war’ Tony found the young god in his room sulking over being bested by Strange. The sorcerer had sent Loki away in a portal and though it had been but seconds to them all, Loki angrily claimed he had been ‘falling for thirty minutes!’  
“Hey, thought I’d find you here.” He said, leaning against the door way  
Loki didn’t respond but a knife whipped past Tony, embedding into the wall beside his head  
“Okay! Point taken, you’re still an edgy bitch. I just wanted to check up on you.” Tony said and slowly sat on the bed beside Loki   
“What do you want stark?” He-Loki was a he at the moment- asked   
Tony sighed   
“I just wanted to say you did good today.” He said  
Loki stiffened, staring at Tony with suspicion and disbelief. For a moment, all Tony could see was an insecure and broken 16 year old kid in front of him and the expression on his face was so familiar Tony had to remind himself to breathe through his anger  
Had anyone ever complimented Loki before? Told him he was valid?  
Tony decided then that he would do everything to find out what made Loki the way he was. Thor talked dearly about his childhood and the innocent boy his brother had once been. What had turned that innocent boy into an envious monster?  
“He only ever wanted to be my equal,” Thor confessed sadly to Tony one day “Becoming kind was his way of trying to get our fathers attention.”  
Tony soon got the full story and he was horrified at what Loki had been put through  
Raised to believe he would never be worthy of his brother, taught from a young age that frost giants were a despicable race that must be destroyed, lied to about his true parentage and finding out that he belonged to the very race his brother wanted to fight  
From what he could tell Frigga was the only one who made and effort in letting Loki know he was loved. Thor had been too blinded by his loyalty towards his father that he failed to see his brothers insecurities   
“It is but the greatest regret of my life. I love my brother with everything I have, perhaps I should’ve tried to let him know that more often. Even when he was wreaking havoc over Midgard and everyone believed he was lost to us, I refused to believe that. I’m grateful I have him now, but I don’t know if I can ever repair what had been broken.” Thor said sadly  
“He needs you know more than ever Thor. He’s not the same as before, he’s just a kid in every sense. This is your chance to get it right this time, raise him right. Don’t waste it.” Tony adviced   
One day, Loki confessed to Tony everything Thanos had done  
“He found me after the bifrost collapsed. I truly believed I would die, but he saved my life. I only realised later why. He brainwashed and- and tortured me before sending me to earth with the sceptre. I truly didn’t want to cause the destruction I did that day.”   
“It wasn’t your fault, he made you do that.” Tony said  
Loki laughed bitterly and shook his head  
“He didn’t plant the evil in me Stark, he only twisted what he was already there. He saw the malicious intents I had, my thirst for recognition from my father, my yearning to outshine Thor. He used that to manipulate me. If I were as innocent as you say I am, he never would’ve had that control over me.”   
It broke Tony’s heart to hear Loki day that. But worried him more was how much he related to that story  
It came without saying that Tony had pretty much added Loki to the hypothetical list of orphan kids he promised to do better by. In Steve’s opinion, that was the biggest ‘fuck you’ to Howard Starks memory and Tony wasn’t even trying to do that  
Needless to say, a little acceptance and a few words of kindness and already Loki seemed to be getting better, though everyone knew it was a long way before he truly healed

———-  
At 9 months Morgan said her first word. Tony sometimes worked with Morgan in his arms and he generally refrained from profanities around her. The one time he slipped happened to be the one time she decided to copy him  
“Shit.” Morgan yelled at a horrified Tony  
“Oh no. We don’t say that, it’s mommy’s word, she coined it. We don’t use that word Morgan.” Tony said   
“Shit!”  
“Peppers gonna kill me.”  
Morgan’s second word wasn’t all that better. This time, it was Peppers fault, although she maintained that it was Tony’s fault since he made her yell  
“What the hell Tony?”   
“‘ell!”   
“Shit!” Tony exclaimed   
Morgan simply giggled  
“At least it’s not as bad as Steve’s first word.” Tony said  
“Oh I remember that.” Rhodey said with a groan   
“Why what did he say? And it was definitely Tony that taught him whatever it was.” Pepper said  
“Hey! No it was- actually it was me.”  
“We didn’t even realise he picked it up.” Rhodey said  
Tony laughed   
“Rhodey had taken him to the park when he pointed at some random woman and yelled ‘sexy!’” Tony said  
“And she thought he was repeating something I said about her.” Rhodey grumbled   
Pepper laughed, then grimaced when Morgan started repeating her new words  
————  
Morgan’s first birthday was celebrated at the compound with what Tony considered his family  
The Avengers, young and old, loved Morgan to death and Tony was sure his daughter would grow to be the most spoiled child in the country  
A week after her birthday, Morgan took her first steps. She went right to Steve who couldn’t stop gushing about that for days. A month later, she was running everywhere and it took a fully armed battalion running behind her to make sure she was safe  
Steve was playing with Morgan in the living room of the cabin Tony built for Pepper a little distance from the compound  
“Hey!” He greeted when Pepper sat down on the couch in front of them with her tab  
“Everything okay at SI?” Steve asked  
“Hmm...the stocks are rising, that’s good. But the board of directors are still seething that a woman is there boss.” She replied   
Steve scoffed  
“Like any one of those old drunks could do what you do even for a day.” He said  
Pepper smiled at him  
“You know I always wondered, why Pepper?” Steve asked  
“Huh?”  
“You’re name’s Virginia, so how come you ended up with a nickname like Pepper?” He asked  
Pepper snorted  
“That’s a long story, your fathers the one that came up with that name by the way.” She said  
“Why am I not surprised? So, what happened?” He asked eagerly, drawing Morgan closer onto his lap while she played with her toys  
“Well, it was when I first met him actually. I’d just joined the company as an accountant. Tony made an error in his calculations, something that could’ve cost the company billions of dollars. When I realised that I rushed to his office to correct the error. I gave no explanation as I barged into his office to correct the error and Tony’s bodyguards threatened to forcefully remove me, so I threatened to use pepper spray on them.” She chucked as she recalled that memory “I saved the company from losing billions of dollars and Tony was impressed by what he called my ‘feisty nature’. That was when he hired me as his personal assistant and jokingly nicknamed me Pepper because he knew I was lying when I threatened those guards.”   
“Wow” Steve exclaimed “No wonder he loves you.”   
————-  
The world leaders were once again trying to get hold of the stones and discussing the manufacture of high grade weapons to prepare for war  
Tony arranged a press conference to explain once and for all why that was a bullshit idea  
“Thanos is the last of a powerful race called titans. He believes that due to the lack of resources and increasing number of mouths to feed, the universe will end up consuming itself and leave nothing but destruction. He thinks he’s saving us all with his brilliant solution, wipe out half the universe so that the other half can be saved. Perfect balance, or so he thinks.” Steve spoke to the slew of reporters in front of him “Thanos has the wrong solution but he isn’t wrong about one thing- we are leading our planet on a path of destruction. Global warming continues to grow out of control, climate change is an ever growing concern that world leaders refuse to acknowledge, war will only lead to more destruction and depletion of resources. If you really want to stop Thanos, then prove him wrong. Raise your voices and do something about the climate, save the planet. Because if we continue the way we are, then we don’t need Thanos to bring about the apocalypse, we’ll do it ourselves.” Steve paused and looked at his father, who nodded encouragingly at him  
“We can’t stop him alone, we’ll need your help. From now on, everyone who works to save the earth is an Avenger. Everyone who stands by us in this battle for climate change is a part of the team. Start today, start now, the planet needs you. All of you.” Steve said. Tony then took over the podium   
“Stark industries has already started a green energy initiative using arc reactor technology, something I’ve wanted to share with governments all over. To all the world leaders preparing for war, here’s how you do it, switch to clean energy. Because we’re at war, not with aliens from outer space, but with ourselves. The fate of the world is in our hands, let’s make sure it stays that way. Save our planet and self entitled maniacs like Thanos won’t be able to touch us.”   
Within seconds the press conference was trending everywhere. People were organising cleaning drives and protest rally’s, planting trees and protesting outside government building to adopt clean energy. #imanAvenger #Capscall #IMbelieves #StopThanos were trending on Twitter  
Publicly calling out politicians didn’t suit well to them. They were just waiting for a chance to make there move  
The mission to capture Rumlow and the hydra cell, Crossbones trying to kill Steve and Wanda accidentally blowing a building trying to save him  
The people who died because of their mistake   
Secretary Ross, the man that tried to kill Hulk on many occasion  
The Accords  
Steve and Tony in opposite ends of the discussion  
“...the safest hands are still our own,”  
“...people die when we make mistakes.”  
To make matters worse, King T’chaka was killed  
And Bucky was the prime suspect  
“I know what he means to you but we need to bring him in, or I’ll be forced to arrest you as well.” Tony begged his son “I’m trying to Pete the you.”  
“By condemning an innocent man? You and I both know Bucky is innocent.”  
“Please piccolo. Come with me.”  
Zemo using the words to activate the winter soldier brainwashing. Buckys erratic behaviour only made things worse  
“Keep him safe, I’ll hold everyone off.” Natasha told him  
Steve flying with Bucky to Siberia while everyone searched for him. Tony finding them there  
“Manchurian candidate, you’re killing me. I come in peace.”   
The video of Bucky killing Tony’s parents  
Tony closed his eyes in pain, already knowing the truth but unable to stop the anger that coursed through him anyway   
“I’m sorry dad, but he didn’t do this. You know he didn’t, he was brainwashed.”  
Then the video changed  
“What’s this?” Tony asked  
It showed the old cabin from before the explosion. It was the same video tony had played a million times trying to search for his son  
Both Tony and Steve flinched when it came to the part of the explosion, except it never came  
Instead, the video glitched for a second before showing the living room again with Sarah lying on the ground  
The ten minutes of missing footage!!  
In the video, Sarah looked around her frantically. She looked at her stomach, no doubt for the bullet wound  
“She- She was alive.” Steve gasped  
This was right after the time travel changed everything  
But what happened? What caused the explosion?  
Sarah was searching the floor for something. She found her phone and immediately started dialing someone’s number  
She had been calling Tony   
Just then the door burst open and someone barged in. Even before he saw the metal arm, Tony knew who it was  
“No!” Steve gasped “he can’t have done this. This can’t be real.” Steve muttered beside him  
“Who are you?” Sarah yelled at him  
“Where is he?” The soldier asked  
“He’s not here. You’ll never find him, I sent him away. You can never hurt him.” Sarah said angrily  
Without another word the soldier had Sarah in a chokehold. She tried to escape but the metal arm was relentless. Tony watched as Sarah, his first love, his wife, was choked to death. The soldier surveyed Sarah’s lifeless body with cold eyes. He threw a small bomb near the gas line before jumping out of the window. The explosion sounded, loud and familiar, before the video cut off  
Steve crying uncontrollably beside him while Bucky had backed to the corner, staring at his hands in horror   
Did he really feel guilty or was it all just and act?  
The rage that spread through Tony had blinded him and before he knew it, he was pointing his repulsors at Bucky  
Except, Steve stood in front of him with his shield  
“Dad, no.”  
“How can you still take his side? He killed my Sarah! He murdered your mother!!”   
“Dad please-“  
“Move Steve.”   
“He’s my friend.”  
“I’m you’re father. No move.”  
“No.”  
“He killed my parents and my wife, he almost killed my son that day on the hellicarier. He hurt my family, I won’t spare him.”   
“He saved my life!” Steve yelled “If it weren’t for him I would’ve been starving on the streets in the goddamn 40s, he gave me food and a home, he saved me everytime I was too dumb to run from a fight, he protected me from transphobic bastards who would’ve killed me just for being myself. He saved my life time and time again and when it mattered the most, I couldn’t save his. I didn’t catch him on that train and he was captured by those sadistic bastards that took everything from him.” Steve’s breathe came in ragged gasps and he spoke through tears “Twenty years dad, it took twenty years of torture for him to break. The man who killed grandma and grandpa and - and mom, it wasn’t him. Bucky was just another kid from Brooklyn who never asked for any of this. Please dad, you can’t hurt him.”   
Tony’s gauntlet was still pointed towards Bucky but his anger was fading. He remembered the report he’d read almost a year ago about all the horrible things done to Steve. Bucky had been through worse and was just beginning to heal  
He couldn’t do this. He dropped the gauntlet   
“Go” He said   
“What?” Steve asked  
“Take him and go somewhere safe. I’ll handle the situation here.”  
“Dad what if we can’t come back?”  
“I’ll never let that happen. Nobody can take you away from me again, ever.”   
“Dad I-“  
Tony hugged took of the armour and hugged Steve, pressing there foreheads together  
“Promise me you’ll come back.” He said  
“I will. Oh god dad.”  
“I love you piccolo, remember that.”  
“I’m so sorry dad.”  
“Go!”  
Steve hesitated   
“Can you hold onto this for me?” Steve have the shield to Tony  
“Why?”  
“I can’t use this now. I can’t be captain America like this.”  
“Steve-?”  
“Please dad.”  
Tony took the shield from Steve and watched his son take Bucky with him and go  
Bucky stopped and turned to face Tony  
“I don’t deserve you’re forgiveness, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” He whispered  
Tony hugged Bucky because god knows the kid needed one  
“You’re my family now kid. Keep an eye on him for me will you?” Tony asked  
“Always.”  
Steve and Bucky took refuge in wakanda for now, Shuri working to remove the brainwashing once and for all  
“He’s going under cryo again.” Steve told Tony through an old flip phone   
“You can come back now Steve. We’ve convinced the UN to rewrite the accords. Come home.”   
“How’s Natasha?”  
“She’s holding up, worried sick about both of you. She needs you here Steve, Bucky is in good hands.”  
“Will they let me come?”  
“I did everything I could, they won’t arrest you now but you’ve been placed under house arrest for a year.”   
Steve sighed, that was the best he could hope for  
“I’m coming home dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is gonna be something I’ve been wanting to write since I started this series
> 
> A homecoming au!!!!!


	9. On a plain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a month! I’m so sorry
> 
> Edit: there’s been a mistake at the end of the chapter and I can’t seem to edit it...please ignore the repeated text

Steve had planned on going straight to the council, like his dad asked him to so that they could renegotiate the accords and formally clear Bucky’s and his names

But on his way, he got the message

Peggy!!

If he didn’t go now, he’d never be able to see her for the last time. He couldn’t miss her funeral

So the first chance he got, he gave the wakandan escorts a slip and jumped of the jet(with a parachute)

When he reached the service, Natasha and Sam were already there

“Figured you’d be here. Tony’s at the council, smoothing things down.” Sam said

“You didn’t have to come.” Steve said, worried they’d be in trouble

“Shut up man, let’s get you dressed. Pepper sent you a suit.” Sam said

Natasha smiled at him

“We didn’t want you to be alone.”

“I left him there.” Steve said glumly

“I’m going to Wakanda after this. I promise Steve, we’ll get him back.” She said

Steve nodded and went with Sam to one of the changing rooms

He was a pallbearer to Peggy’s coffin. None of the people there questioned that, didn’t seem to care he was still a wanted criminal

There was a part of Steve that wondered if maybe he’d been wrong about the accords, then Sharon gave her speech at the funeral

Peggy’s words made his resolve stronger. He would go to negotiate the accords, but he’d make sure a man like Ross didn’t have the final word

After the funeral, Natasha was set to leave while Sam was supposed to take him back to the council

But Steve still had another place to be

An hour later, after leading Ross’ soldiers on a goose chase and promising Sam that he’d be back, he found himself outside Cathy’s door

After Bucky came back, the first thing Steve did was tell Cathy. Once Bucky seemed okay enough to meet her, he took him there

Cathy had taken one look at Bucky and broke down. She wouldn’t let go of her brother for several minutes, apologising for giving up on him and lamenting everything he’d been through. Then she stuffed them both with so much food, they both felt bloated

Steve promised he’d keep bringing Bucky to visit. Now, he owes her an explanation

“Stevie!” She gasped when she opens the door “what happened? The news-? Such terrible things they keep saying about Bucky and you-“

Steve hugged her to calm her down, and to calm himself down too. When it came to Bucky, Cathy was the only person who understood him the most. He lost Peggy, Bucky was in cryo, Cathy was the only person that connected him to the past. Even if that time wasn’t his. She had been one of the people who gave him a home when he had nothing and he couldn’t bare the thought of losing her too

“It’s okay Cath. Bucky, he- he’s not here now. He’ll be away for a while but he’s gonna be okay again, I promise.”

They talked for half and hour before Steve had to leave. If he stayed there longer, he’d be putting her in danger as well

“I came now because I won’t be able to see you again for a while Cathy. The house arrest, I don’t know how long it’ll be.”

“Before you leave, promise me something Stevie.” Cathy said “I won’t be there for long- I know you don’t want to hear that honey but that’s the truth, I won’t be around for long and when I’m gone, Bucky will truly have no one else. Promise me he’ll never be alone again? Please!”

Steve took Cathy’s small hands in his own “I promise. I have to go now.”

But that wasn’t all. There was still one place Steve had to go

He reached the lavender grove and plucked a few flowers like always

“Hey mom” he laid the flowers down in front of her grave and sat down, ignoring the damp grass. The sun was setting and soon it would be dark but he didn’t care

He just sat there, pouring his heart out to his mother and wondering what she’d say if she was there. Tony found him like that, several hours later. Without another word, his father sat next to him. They both didn’t say anything for a while

“You know,” Tony started “I was so angry when I saw that video, I wanted to hurt him. I wanted revenge, I never got to blame anyone after her death, didn’t know where to take out my anger. So when I saw that, I lost it.”

“I was angry too. She’s my mom! But then I saw his face and he was so scared. That’s when I realised he wasn’t scared of you, he was scared of me. He was scared that I would hate him. But I couldn’t, no matter what happened I could never blame him.” Steve said quietly

Tony put an arm around his sons trembling shoulders, pulling him close. Steve buried his face in Tony’s neck and the tears he’d been holding back since Siberia were running down his face

“But how can I just let this go? How can I forget everything and just move on? I love Bucky, but it’s still mom! Things would’ve been so different if she were alive, you would’ve known from the start. I can’t stop thinking about that and-dad! I miss her.” Steve choked on the last part

Tony sighed, holding back his own tears

“You know what Sarah would say if she was here? She’d say ‘In order to grow, you must let go of the past.’ You are so much like her, I wonder if maybe that’s why you’re a better man then I’ll ever be-“

“Don’t say that-“

“It’s true. Standing up for the little guy, choosing to do the right thing without expecting anything for yourselves, that’s all her. And if she were here, she’d want you to move past this.” Tony says earnestly

Steve sighed, calming down a little

“I still won’t blindly sign the accords.” He said

“I know piccolo. We’ll figure this out...together.” Tony said

They left the grave sight and reached the quinjet. Bruce, Thor and Clint were inside

“I heard about Peggy, I’m sorry kiddo.” Bruce said, pulling Steve into a hug

“Thanks uncle Bruce.”

“Captain, I know the times are inopportune, but I have news.” Thor said

“Is this about the accords?” Steve asked

“Partly yes, earth will want an alliance with Asgard if it wants to be prepared for the war that will inevitably come to pass. As king of Asgard, I may compel them to negotiate the terms of the accords.” Thor said “Which brings me to the bad news, Thanos is reportedly building his army. Other planets are doing everything they can to stop him but we need to be ready. If he finds the other stones before we do it will be bad.”

Steve nodded, too tired to feel panicked. They arrived at the council faster than he would’ve liked but the sooner they completed this, the better

It led to long discussions and several arguments that led to Steve nearly punching Ross and Tony actually punching Ross for suggesting that Steve should be locked away in the raft for experimentation to replicate the super soldier serum

“He’s technically government property.” Rose argued. Bruce almost went green right there

Finally, they came up with a rewritten draft called the superhero act which allowed the government to work together with the Avengers while they still kept there freedom. Some of the rules included taking responsibility for damage control and regular debriefing of missions

“Steve Rogers-Stark will remain under house arrest for one year.”

The death sentence had been passed, no matter how much Steve protested it

A year!

“The compound is a big place.” Tony said trying to placate him

But that wasn’t enough. Everyone would be leaving soon and the compound will be relatively empty

Thor had to return to Asgard and Bruce and Loki would go with him, Natasha was in wakanda while Sam, Clint and Rhodey were going on missions for the government (another clause in the new draft)

Harley and Kate would start college in a month, Wanda already left to train with Dr. Strange so she could learn to control her powers and pietro and vision went with her, Riri was off on her first official mission with Phil and basically, the whole compound would be empty

“You’ll have me.” Tony assured Steve, who nodded bemusedly, wondering how to tell his dad that as much as he loved him, spending an entire year with just your father as company was not exactly a typical 19 year olds dream

——-

Everyone had already left the compound when Steve found Kate in her room, silently crying

Steve knew exactly what had set her off so he sat beside her in companiable silence

“I stole this from Thor’s room.” Kate said after a while, showing him a bottle of amber liquid which Steve immediately recognised as Asgardian mead “I need company and it’s not fair if I’m the only one who gets drunk.”

“So you knew I’d come here?”

“Pfft...like you had anything else to do.” Kate said rolling her eyes

“Ouch! And to think I was feeling bad for you.”

“Exactly. Don’t.”

Steve rolled his eyes but accepted the bottle from her nevertheless. He’d been curious about the mead for a while and now was the chance, with none of the adults (well, the responsible ones ) in the way, he could finally do that

“You are way too young to be drinking.” Steve told Kate

“Shut up, I’m like 6 months younger than you.” Kate said, punching his arm

A couple of hours later, the two of them were completed wasted and giggling like idiots in the training arena

“Okay, I have ‘nother one,” Steve said “What does a pirate say when he turns eighty?”

Kate screwed up her face as she thought about her answer while Steve covered his mouth in a pathetic attempt at muffling his giggles

“-I don’t know..what?” Kate asked

“Aye maighty!” Steve said

Kate fell off the bench they were sitting on, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard

“You’re soo funny.” She said, getting up

“Thanks-“

“And attractive. It’s so unfair, you’re so- so prettyyy. I love you so much.” She slurred, giggling again

Steve blushed “Aaw Katie! I love you too-“

“I want to hug you.” Kate said. Steve opened his arms to her but she pushed past him and promptly smashed against her reflection on the glass window

“Sooo pretty.” She slurred again, trying to kiss her reflection

Steve grumbled as he pulled her from the window

“Aaaw, don’t be sad. You’re pretty too.” She told him, making him smile happily

Steve then frowned at the floor and fell to the ground, randomly tapping the floor with his palms

“What are you doing?” Kate asked, cocking her head to a side

“The floor, it’s- it’s spinning. I’m tryin to catch it.” He said with another tap to the floor. Kate frowned for a second before shrugging and dropping to the floor to help him

“Whoa! The floor is fast.” Kate said

“It’s- it’s making my head go woooo.” Steve let his head fall on Kate’s lap “hi.” He said, smiling up at her

“Truth or dare.” Kate asked

“Huh? Okay, truth”

“Wuss...I dare you to- to punch Loki in the face.” Kate said

“What? But Loki’s a girl now and I don’t punch girls.”

“You hit me.!” Kate protested

“Only cuz we’re training and I- I don’t want bad guys to hit you-“ Steve paused for a moment “What was I saying?”

“Loki is a snake and shouldn’t have kissed Riri.”

“Oh yeah...I saw that. Sorry, ‘sucks.” Steve said

Kate lay down on the floor, sighing loudly

“It’s okay I guess...there’ll be more girls at college right? At least I’m not stuck here like you...ha! Lame” she said

“You’re mean.” Steve pouted and started poking Kate’s leg until she tried kicking him off

“You know what? I should- should call Ross! I’m telling that old bastard where he can stick his regimes.” Steve said and got his phone, accidentally calling his emergency contact

“Steve? Are you alright?” Tony’s frantic voice came through the receiver

“Dad! Daddy-hey Kate,it’s dad. He’s iron man, how cool is that.” Steve yelled

“What the f-“ Tony exclaimed

“SSH!” Steve said loudly “no swearing! Captain America doesn’t like swearing...that’s what our coach at school used to say” Steve giggled

“Steve? Are you drunk!” Tony asked

“Drunk? Me? No way! Kate, we’re not drunk are we?” He asked. She contemplated it for a moment

“We’re still wearing our clothes.”

“Huh...yeah. That’s smart. No dad, we- we’re not drunk.”

“I’m on my way to the compound, clints coming too.” Tony said

“Great, we can catch the floor together.” Steve said

“What?!”

“It won’t stop spinning.”

“Don’t move! both of you stay where you are. I’m coming.” Tony said firmly before hanging up

‘This boy is going to be the death of me’ Tony muttered to himself

“FRIDAY, make sure they don’t leave the room and drown in the pool or something.” Tony said

“Yes boss.”

The meeting with Ross was over anyway so Tony rushed to the compound, calling Clint as well

“What’s up?” The archer asked

“Our kids are idiots.”

“Crap! I’m on my way.”

The two teenagers were unconscious by the time they reached the training arena

Clint sighed and picked up Kate, carrying her to her room

“I’m tucking you in now but in the morning, boy are you in for trouble little miss.” Clint muttered to her

Tony watched them leave and knelt next to his son

“Steve?” He gently prodded his side. Steve groaned and rolled over “Get up son, I can’t carry you.” Tony said

After five minutes of nothing, Tony relented and put on the suit, picking up his son and carrying him to his room

Truth be told, Tony wasn’t angry at Steve. Given the circumstances of the past few days Steve was more than entitled to want to get wasted. God knows Tony himself was aching for a bottle

Once he laid Steve down on his bed, tony got rid of the suit and sat on the bed, tucking the blanket comfortably around the boy

Steve rolled over and started muttering in his sleep

“Ross, stupid old man. Can’t experiment- won’t let them, not again.” He was saying. Tony stiffened, this was the first time Steve was talking about the stuff that was done to him before the war 

“They- they can’t control me. Never again!” Steve huffed “You won’t let them, right dad?” He asked

Tony choked back tears as he kissed his sons forehead

“Never. No one can touch while I’m still alive.” Tony whispered

“It hurt a lot dad.” Steve was crying at this point, clutching Tony’s arm “They didn’t care. They thought I- I was gover-government property too. But I’m not, am I?”

“You’re my son, Steve Rogers-Stark. You’re mine and no one can touch you again, I promise. Oh piccolo, I’m so sorry.”

“He- he wanted to put a collar on Wanda. Shock her, contain her. He’s scared of her powers, of all of us.” Steve whispered

A flare of rage spread through Tony. If it weren’t for Steve needing him then, he would’ve flown out and punched Ross again....with the suit

“Sleep now son, we’ll talk in the morning.” Tony said as he rubbed Steve’s head. Steve relaxed into his fathers touch and fell asleep moments later. But Tony couldn’t leave his side for a long time

Steve’s apprehension towards the accords became crystal clear for the first time. Of course he wouldn’t trust the government with his freedom, not after everything they’d done. The experiments, shield infiltrated by hydra and no one noticing, Bucky!

Tony sighed, resting his forehead in his hands

“Hey, I was waiting for you.” Pepper said softly, sticking her head in the room

“Yeah I- I lost track of time.” Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly

“I heard he got drunk, he alright?” She asked

“He’s asleep. Morgans in bed right?”

“Ugh! Just got her to rest, she’s been crying all evening.”

Tony frowned and turned to her

“She was fine this morning, do we need to call a doctor?” He asked already forming a mental list of specialists he’d call in

“No, she’s just been restless, I guess. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she knew something was going on.” Pepper stifled a yawn and sat on a chair near the bed “I’m worried about our kids Tony.”

Tony grabbed her hand

“Things are gonna get difficult from now Pep. The galaxy is at war and we’re at the centre if it.”

Pepper’s eyes widened in fear

“What are we gonna do?”

Tony didn’t know how to answer that. What would they do?

“Whatever it is, as long as we face it together, we have a chance.”

Pepper looked at Steve’s sleeping form

“His entire life was messed up for that one chance, it better be worth it.” She said

Nothing could be worth the pain his son had to go through, but Tony didn’t say that

“We should go, you look exhausted.” He said instead

“As if you look better.”

“I definitely wear it better.”

“Yeah, right.”

They kept their conversation light and casual, not wanting to worry about the future for at least one night

—————-

Steve woke up to the stereo blaring some horrible pop music at full volume

“Gah! What the hell?” He exclaimed as sunlight hit his face

“Rise and shine sweetheart.” Natasha yelled cheerfully over the loud music

Steve groaned and pulled the blanket over his head, trying to muffle the noise and light

“Go away.” He said “And turn off the goddamn music.”

The blanket was yanked off his face

“Hangover? You deserve it.” Natasha yelled again

“Ugh! What are you doing here anyway?” Steve asked

“I came back to sigh the renegotiated accords, and because my boyfriend drunk texted me last night.” She said, facing him with her hands on her hips

“I did?” Steve asked

“You wouldn’t stop telling me how important Bucky and me are.” She said

“That’s not so bad.”

“Then you called me and tried to serenade me.”

Steve winced

“But my boyfriend is tone deaf and being drunk made that a million times worse, I’m lucky my ears didn’t bleed.” Natasha huffed

“Are you mad at me?” Steve asked

Natasha sighed and crawled onto the bed beside him

“I’m not mad, just tired I guess. To be honest I can’t blame you for doing this either, with the way things are I want to grab a bottle too.”

“How is he?”

“Shuri is working on trying to help him. T’Challa is being crowned king right now so things are gonna be busy in Wakanda for a few days. I’ll go back in a couple of weeks.”

Steve nodded and held her close. They sat like that until Natasha had to leave for the courthouse to sign the documents

“Hey, you’re finally awake.” Tony commented when Steve entered the kitchen

Steve grunted in response and collapsed on a chair opposite to Tony, resting his head on the table

“Seems like one hell of a hangover.” Tony said

Steve groaned and made grabby hands in the direction of Tony’s coffee

“Nope, get your own.” Tony said

“C’mon! Pleeeeease!” Steve said with a pout

“Nu huh, you deserve that.”

“Ugh! You’re the worst.” Steve said dropping his head on the table again

“Here.” Pepper entered the kitchen and placed a mug in front of Steve

“Oh thank you Pep, you’re the-“ Steve paused mid sentence to frown at his mug “this is not coffee.”

“Hangover remedy. Drink that and you’re hangover will be gone in a minute.” Pepper said

“I can smell raw egg in it.” Steve said with disgust

“Yup, now drink.” Pepper ordered

“Ew, no thanks.” Steve said, weakly pushing the mug away

“You’re not leaving the table till you finish every last drop.”

“Dad, a little help here.”

“You deserve it. Besides, that thing really works, even if it tastes like rotten fish.”

Steve glowered at both of them before relenting and taking the cup

“Gah! That was terrible.” He exclaimed, slamming the empty cup down

“She needs one too.” Clint announced dragging Kate with him

“Too loud!” Kate protested “can you like, not?” She said, clutching her head

“Can I not what?” Clint asked loudly

“Talk, or even breathe for that matter. It’s annoying.”

Clint glared at Kate

“Ugh, don’t attempt to think either, it’s annoying.”

Kate slumped next to Steve, mimicking his earlier position. Pepper pushed a second mug towards her and didn’t even look at what it was before downing half the, concoction, in one go

“Blech!” She sputtered “What the hell is this?”

“Hangover remedy.” Steve told her

“Drink the whole thing.” Clint warned

Kate argued with him a few more minutes before finally finishing her mug when Clint threatened to take her bow away

Once everyone left, Tony and Steve were the only ones left

“How much do you remember from yesterday?” Tony asked nonchalantly. Steve knew his father wanted to ask him about something but was pretending to be calm about it

He replayed everything from the previous night, trying to think of anything he might’ve done or said when it hit him

Last night in his drunken haze, he had babbled to Tony, told him of the terrible things the doctors had done to him

“I don’t remember how much I told you but it’s okay now dad, not that bad.” Steve mumbled

Tony stiffened, his hand gripping his coffee cup so hard Steve was worried it might break

“I’ve read the reports Steve, it’s not nothing.”

“Reports? There are reports?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What would you have done?” Steve asked vehemently

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it, staring at his son with wide eyes. Steve sighed and lowered his voice

“It wouldn’t have mattered. What happened, what they did, you can’t change it. It’s over now. Those doctors aren’t even alive so what’s the point? If I told you you’d find a way to blame yourself or you’d try to wrap me up in a blanket and not let me out oryour sight. I just- I don’t know, dad. I didn’t want to take about it, what would I even say?”

“I could’ve helped you deal with it. It’s not okay Steve so don’t tell me it is. It’ll never be okay. Son, you’re still affected by it-“

“I’m dealing with it, okay? Leave it alone now.” Steve snapped

“Dealing with it? Steve you’re still scared of hospitals and doctors, someone so much as mentions any testing on you and you almost get a panic attack. You’re not okay, and you won’t be until you let someone help you.” Tony took Steve’s hand in his own, looking at him with pleading eyes

“I talk to sam.” Steve muttered

“Sam is amazing but he’s also your friend. Sometimes, an outside perspective can be helpful. Besides, Sams to busy to help you now.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You have an entire year, use this time to help yourself Steve. Bucky getting the help he needs, it’s your Turn now.”

Steve thought for a long moment before making his mind

“Fine I’ll talk to a therapist, but I have a condition, you’ll talk to someone too.” Steve said

Tony grimaced. Its been a while since he’s done that but if it meant Steve would get the help he needs, then he’d do anything

“Deal.”

————

“No way.” Steve said firmly

Tony sighed, massaging his temples

“Is it really necessary Ross?” He tiredly asked the general

“If you want the public to accept Captain America again we must give them a reason to do so” Ross said not even trying to hide his smirk, that evil bastard

“So you want me to do this?”

Steve had planned on going straight to the council, like his dad asked him to so that they could renegotiate the accords and formally clear Bucky’s and his names

But on his way, he got the message

Peggy!!

If he didn’t go now, he’d never be able to see her for the last time. He couldn’t miss her funeral

So the first chance he got, he gave the wakandan escorts a slip and jumped of the jet(with a parachute)

When he reached the service, Natasha and Sam were already there

“Figured you’d be here. Tony’s at the council, smoothing things down.” Sam said

“You didn’t have to come.” Steve said, worried they’d be in trouble

“Shut up man, let’s get you dressed. Pepper sent you a suit.” Sam said

Natasha smiled at him

“We didn’t want you to be alone.”

“I left him there.” Steve said glumly

“I’m going to Wakanda after this. I promise Steve, we’ll get him back.” She said

Steve nodded and went with Sam to one of the changing rooms

He was a pallbearer to Peggy’s coffin. None of the people there questioned that, didn’t seem to care he was still a wanted criminal

There was a part of Steve that wondered if maybe he’d been wrong about the accords, then Sharon gave her speech at the funeral

Peggy’s words made his resolve stronger. He would go to negotiate the accords, but he’d make sure a man like Ross didn’t have the final word

After the funeral, Natasha was set to leave while Sam was supposed to take him back to the council

But Steve still had another place to be

An hour later, after leading Ross’ soldiers on a goose chase and promising Sam that he’d be back, he found himself outside Cathy’s door

After Bucky came back, the first thing Steve did was tell Cathy. Once Bucky seemed okay enough to meet her, he took him there

Cathy had taken one look at Bucky and broke down. She wouldn’t let go of her brother for several minutes, apologising for giving up on him and lamenting everything he’d been through. Then she stuffed them both with so much food, they both felt bloated

Steve promised he’d keep bringing Bucky to visit. Now, he owes her an explanation

“Stevie!” She gasped when she opens the door “what happened? The news-? Such terrible things they keep saying about Bucky and you-“

Steve hugged her to calm her down, and to calm himself down too. When it came to Bucky, Cathy was the only person who understood him the most. He lost Peggy, Bucky was in cryo, Cathy was the only person that connected him to the past. Even if that time wasn’t his. She had been one of the people who gave him a home when he had nothing and he couldn’t bare the thought of losing her too

“It’s okay Cath. Bucky, he- he’s not here now. He’ll be away for a while but he’s gonna be okay again, I promise.”

They talked for half and hour before Steve had to leave. If he stayed there longer, he’d be putting her in danger as well

“I came now because I won’t be able to see you again for a while Cathy. The house arrest, I don’t know how long it’ll be.”

“Before you leave, promise me something Stevie.” Cathy said “I won’t be there for long- I know you don’t want to hear that honey but that’s the truth, I won’t be around for long and when I’m gone, Bucky will truly have no one else. Promise me he’ll never be alone again? Please!”

Steve took Cathy’s small hands in his own “I promise. I have to go now.”

But that wasn’t all. There was still one place Steve had to go

He reached the lavender grove and plucked a few flowers like always

“Hey mom” he laid the flowers down in front of her grave and sat down, ignoring the damp grass. The sun was setting and soon it would be dark but he didn’t care

He just sat there, pouring his heart out to his mother and wondering what she’d say if she was there. Tony found him like that, several hours later. Without another word, his father sat next to him. They both didn’t say anything for a while

“You know,” Tony started “I was so angry when I saw that video, I wanted to hurt him. I wanted revenge, I never got to blame anyone after her death, didn’t know where to take out my anger. So when I saw that, I lost it.”

“I was angry too. She’s my mom! But then I saw his face and he was so scared. That’s when I realised he wasn’t scared of you, he was scared of me. He was scared that I would hate him. But I couldn’t, no matter what happened I could never blame him.” Steve said quietly

Tony put an arm around his sons trembling shoulders, pulling him close. Steve buried his face in Tony’s neck and the tears he’d been holding back since Siberia were running down his face

“But how can I just let this go? How can I forget everything and just move on? I love Bucky, but it’s still mom! Things would’ve been so different if she were alive, you would’ve known from the start. I can’t stop thinking about that and-dad! I miss her.” Steve choked on the last part

Tony sighed, holding back his own tears

“You know what Sarah would say if she was here? She’d say ‘In order to grow, you must let go of the past.’ You are so much like her, I wonder if maybe that’s why you’re a better man then I’ll ever be-“

“Don’t say that-“

“It’s true. Standing up for the little guy, choosing to do the right thing without expecting anything for yourselves, that’s all her. And if she were here, she’d want you to move past this.” Tony says earnestly

Steve sighed, calming down a little

“I still won’t blindly sign the accords.” He said

“I know piccolo. We’ll figure this out...together.” Tony said

They left the grave sight and reached the quinjet. Bruce, Thor and Clint were inside

“I heard about Peggy, I’m sorry kiddo.” Bruce said, pulling Steve into a hug

“Thanks uncle Bruce.”

“Captain, I know the times are inopportune, but I have news.” Thor said

“Is this about the accords?” Steve asked

“Partly yes, earth will want an alliance with Asgard if it wants to be prepared for the war that will inevitably come to pass. As king of Asgard, I may compel them to negotiate the terms of the accords.” Thor said “Which brings me to the bad news, Thanos is reportedly building his army. Other planets are doing everything they can to stop him but we need to be ready. If he finds the other stones before we do it will be bad.”

Steve nodded, too tired to feel panicked. They arrived at the council faster than he would’ve liked but the sooner they completed this, the better

It led to long discussions and several arguments that led to Steve nearly punching Ross and Tony actually punching Ross for suggesting that Steve should be locked away in the raft for experimentation to replicate the super soldier serum

“He’s technically government property.” Rose argued. Bruce almost went green right there

Finally, they came up with a rewritten draft called the superhero act which allowed the government to work together with the Avengers while they still kept there freedom. Some of the rules included taking responsibility for damage control and regular debriefing of missions

“Steve Rogers-Stark will remain under house arrest for one year.”

The death sentence had been passed, no matter how much Steve protested it

A year!

“The compound is a big place.” Tony said trying to placate him

But that wasn’t enough. Everyone would be leaving soon and the compound will be relatively empty

Thor had to return to Asgard and Bruce and Loki would go with him, Natasha was in wakanda while Sam, Clint and Rhodey were going on missions for the government (another clause in the new draft)

Harley and Kate would start college in a month, Wanda already left to train with Dr. Strange so she could learn to control her powers and pietro and vision went with her, Riri was off on her first official mission with Phil and basically, the whole compound would be empty

“You’ll have me.” Tony assured Steve, who nodded bemusedly, wondering how to tell his dad that as much as he loved him, spending an entire year with just your father as company was not exactly a typical 19 year olds dream

——-

Everyone had already left the compound when Steve found Kate in her room, silently crying

Steve knew exactly what had set her off so he sat beside her in companiable silence

“I stole this from Thor’s room.” Kate said after a while, showing him a bottle of amber liquid which Steve immediately recognised as Asgardian mead “I need company and it’s not fair if I’m the only one who gets drunk.”

“So you knew I’d come here?”

“Pfft...like you had anything else to do.” Kate said rolling her eyes

“Ouch! And to think I was feeling bad for you.”

“Exactly. Don’t.”

Steve rolled his eyes but accepted the bottle from her nevertheless. He’d been curious about the mead for a while and now was the chance, with none of the adults (well, the responsible ones ) in the way, he could finally do that

“You are way too young to be drinking.” Steve told Kate

“Shut up, I’m like 6 months younger than you.” Kate said, punching his arm

A couple of hours later, the two of them were completed wasted and giggling like idiots in the training arena

“Okay, I have ‘nother one,” Steve said “What does a pirate say when he turns eighty?”

Kate screwed up her face as she thought about her answer while Steve covered his mouth in a pathetic attempt at muffling his giggles

“-I don’t know..what?” Kate asked

“Aye maighty!” Steve said

Kate fell off the bench they were sitting on, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard

“You’re soo funny.” She said, getting up

“Thanks-“

“And attractive. It’s so unfair, you’re so- so prettyyy. I love you so much.” She slurred, giggling again

Steve blushed “Aaw Katie! I love you too-“

“I want to hug you.” Kate said. Steve opened his arms to her but she pushed past him and promptly smashed against her reflection on the glass window

“Sooo pretty.” She slurred again, trying to kiss her reflection

Steve grumbled as he pulled her from the window

“Aaaw, don’t be sad. You’re pretty too.” She told him, making him smile happily

Steve then frowned at the floor and fell to the ground, randomly tapping the floor with his palms

“What are you doing?” Kate asked, cocking her head to a side

“The floor, it’s- it’s spinning. I’m tryin to catch it.” He said with another tap to the floor. Kate frowned for a second before shrugging and dropping to the floor to help him

“Whoa! The floor is fast.” Kate said

“It’s- it’s making my head go woooo.” Steve let his head fall on Kate’s lap “hi.” He said, smiling up at her

“Truth or dare.” Kate asked

“Huh? Okay, truth”

“Wuss...I dare you to- to punch Loki in the face.” Kate said

“What? But Loki’s a girl now and I don’t punch girls.”

“You hit me.!” Kate protested

“Only cuz we’re training and I- I don’t want bad guys to hit you-“ Steve paused for a moment “What was I saying?”

“Loki is a snake and shouldn’t have kissed Riri.”

“Oh yeah...I saw that. Sorry, ‘sucks.” Steve said

Kate lay down on the floor, sighing loudly

“It’s okay I guess...there’ll be more girls at college right? At least I’m not stuck here like you...ha! Lame” she said

“You’re mean.” Steve pouted and started poking Kate’s leg until she tried kicking him off

“You know what? I should- should call Ross! I’m telling that old bastard where he can stick his regimes.” Steve said and got his phone, accidentally calling his emergency contact

“Steve? Are you alright?” Tony’s frantic voice came through the receiver

“Dad! Daddy-hey Kate,it’s dad. He’s iron man, how cool is that.” Steve yelled

“What the f-“ Tony exclaimed

“SSH!” Steve said loudly “no swearing! Captain America doesn’t like swearing...that’s what our coach at school used to say” Steve giggled

“Steve? Are you drunk!” Tony asked

“Drunk? Me? No way! Kate, we’re not drunk are we?” He asked. She contemplated it for a moment

“We’re still wearing our clothes.”

“Huh...yeah. That’s smart. No dad, we- we’re not drunk.”

“I’m on my way to the compound, clints coming too.” Tony said

“Great, we can catch the floor together.” Steve said

“What?!”

“It won’t stop spinning.”

“Don’t move! both of you stay where you are. I’m coming.” Tony said firmly before hanging up

‘This boy is going to be the death of me’ Tony muttered to himself

“FRIDAY, make sure they don’t leave the room and drown in the pool or something.” Tony said

“Yes boss.”

The meeting with Ross was over anyway so Tony rushed to the compound, calling Clint as well

“What’s up?” The archer asked

“Our kids are idiots.”

“Crap! I’m on my way.”

The two teenagers were unconscious by the time they reached the training arena

Clint sighed and picked up Kate, carrying her to her room

“I’m tucking you in now but in the morning, boy are you in for trouble little miss.” Clint muttered to her

Tony watched them leave and knelt next to his son

“Steve?” He gently prodded his side. Steve groaned and rolled over “Get up son, I can’t carry you.” Tony said

After five minutes of nothing, Tony relented and put on the suit, picking up his son and carrying him to his room

Truth be told, Tony wasn’t angry at Steve. Given the circumstances of the past few days Steve was more than entitled to want to get wasted. God knows Tony himself was aching for a bottle

Once he laid Steve down on his bed, tony got rid of the suit and sat on the bed, tucking the blanket comfortably around the boy

Steve rolled over and started muttering in his sleep

“Ross, stupid old man. Can’t experiment- won’t let them, not again.” He was saying. Tony stiffened, this was the first time Steve was talking about the stuff that was done to him before the war 

“They- they can’t control me. Never again!” Steve huffed “You won’t let them, right dad?” He asked

Tony choked back tears as he kissed his sons forehead

“Never. No one can touch while I’m still alive.” Tony whispered

“It hurt a lot dad.” Steve was crying at this point, clutching Tony’s arm “They didn’t care. They thought I- I was gover-government property too. But I’m not, am I?”

“You’re my son, Steve Rogers-Stark. You’re mine and no one can touch you again, I promise. Oh piccolo, I’m so sorry.”

“He- he wanted to put a collar on Wanda. Shock her, contain her. He’s scared of her powers, of all of us.” Steve whispered

A flare of rage spread through Tony. If it weren’t for Steve needing him then, he would’ve flown out and punched Ross again....with the suit

“Sleep now son, we’ll talk in the morning.” Tony said as he rubbed Steve’s head. Steve relaxed into his fathers touch and fell asleep moments later. But Tony couldn’t leave his side for a long time

Steve’s apprehension towards the accords became crystal clear for the first time. Of course he wouldn’t trust the government with his freedom, not after everything they’d done. The experiments, shield infiltrated by hydra and no one noticing, Bucky!

Tony sighed, resting his forehead in his hands

“Hey, I was waiting for you.” Pepper said softly, sticking her head in the room

“Yeah I- I lost track of time.” Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly

“I heard he got drunk, he alright?” She asked

“He’s asleep. Morgans in bed right?”

“Ugh! Just got her to rest, she’s been crying all evening.”

Tony frowned and turned to her

“She was fine this morning, do we need to call a doctor?” He asked already forming a mental list of specialists he’d call in

“No, she’s just been restless, I guess. If I didn’t know any better I’d say she knew something was going on.” Pepper stifled a yawn and sat on a chair near the bed “I’m worried about our kids Tony.”

Tony grabbed her hand

“Things are gonna get difficult from now Pep. The galaxy is at war and we’re at the centre if it.”

Pepper’s eyes widened in fear

“What are we gonna do?”

Tony didn’t know how to answer that. What would they do?

“Whatever it is, as long as we face it together, we have a chance.”

Pepper looked at Steve’s sleeping form

“His entire life was messed up for that one chance, it better be worth it.” She said

Nothing could be worth the pain his son had to go through, but Tony didn’t say that

“We should go, you look exhausted.” He said instead

“As if you look better.”

“I definitely wear it better.”

“Yeah, right.”

They kept their conversation light and casual, not wanting to worry about the future for at least one night

—————-

Steve woke up to the stereo blaring some horrible pop music at full volume

“Gah! What the hell?” He exclaimed as sunlight hit his face

“Rise and shine sweetheart.” Natasha yelled cheerfully over the loud music

Steve groaned and pulled the blanket over his head, trying to muffle the noise and light

“Go away.” He said “And turn off the goddamn music.”

The blanket was yanked off his face

“Hangover? You deserve it.” Natasha yelled again

“Ugh! What are you doing here anyway?” Steve asked

“I came back to sigh the renegotiated accords, and because my boyfriend drunk texted me last night.” She said, facing him with her hands on her hips

“I did?” Steve asked

“You wouldn’t stop telling me how important Bucky and me are.” She said

“That’s not so bad.”

“Then you called me and tried to serenade me.”

Steve winced

“But my boyfriend is tone deaf and being drunk made that a million times worse, I’m lucky my ears didn’t bleed.” Natasha huffed

“Are you mad at me?” Steve asked

Natasha sighed and crawled onto the bed beside him

“I’m not mad, just tired I guess. To be honest I can’t blame you for doing this either, with the way things are I want to grab a bottle too.”

“How is he?”

“Shuri is working on trying to help him. T’Challa is being crowned king right now so things are gonna be busy in Wakanda for a few days. I’ll go back in a couple of weeks.”

Steve nodded and held her close. They sat like that until Natasha had to leave for the courthouse to sign the documents

“Hey, you’re finally awake.” Tony commented when Steve entered the kitchen

Steve grunted in response and collapsed on a chair opposite to Tony, resting his head on the table

“Seems like one hell of a hangover.” Tony said

Steve groaned and made grabby hands in the direction of Tony’s coffee

“Nope, get your own.” Tony said

“C’mon! Pleeeeease!” Steve said with a pout

“Nu huh, you deserve that.”

“Ugh! You’re the worst.” Steve said dropping his head on the table again

“Here.” Pepper entered the kitchen and placed a mug in front of Steve

“Oh thank you Pep, you’re the-“ Steve paused mid sentence to frown at his mug “this is not coffee.”

“Hangover remedy. Drink that and you’re hangover will be gone in a minute.” Pepper said

“I can smell raw egg in it.” Steve said with disgust

“Yup, now drink.” Pepper ordered

“Ew, no thanks.” Steve said, weakly pushing the mug away

“You’re not leaving the table till you finish every last drop.”

“Dad, a little help here.”

“You deserve it. Besides, that thing really works, even if it tastes like rotten fish.”

Steve glowered at both of them before relenting and taking the cup

“Gah! That was terrible.” He exclaimed, slamming the empty cup down

“She needs one too.” Clint announced dragging Kate with him

“Too loud!” Kate protested “can you like, not?” She said, clutching her head

“Can I not what?” Clint asked loudly

“Talk, or even breathe for that matter. It’s annoying.”

Clint glared at Kate

“Ugh, don’t attempt to think either, it’s annoying.”

Kate slumped next to Steve, mimicking his earlier position. Pepper pushed a second mug towards her and didn’t even look at what it was before downing half the, concoction, in one go

“Blech!” She sputtered “What the hell is this?”

“Hangover remedy.” Steve told her

“Drink the whole thing.” Clint warned

Kate argued with him a few more minutes before finally finishing her mug when Clint threatened to take her bow away

Once everyone left, Tony and Steve were the only ones left

“How much do you remember from yesterday?” Tony asked nonchalantly. Steve knew his father wanted to ask him about something but was pretending to be calm about it

He replayed everything from the previous night, trying to think of anything he might’ve done or said when it hit him

Last night in his drunken haze, he had babbled to Tony, told him of the terrible things the doctors had done to him

“I don’t remember how much I told you but it’s okay now dad, not that bad.” Steve mumbled

Tony stiffened, his hand gripping his coffee cup so hard Steve was worried it might break

“I’ve read the reports Steve, it’s not nothing.”

“Reports? There are reports?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What would you have done?” Steve asked vehemently

Tony opened his mouth and then closed it, staring at his son with wide eyes. Steve sighed and lowered his voice

“It wouldn’t have mattered. What happened, what they did, you can’t change it. It’s over now. Those doctors aren’t even alive so what’s the point? If I told you you’d find a way to blame yourself or you’d try to wrap me up in a blanket and not let me out or your sight. I just- I don’t know, dad. I didn’t want to take about it, what would I even say?”

“I could’ve helped you deal with it. It’s not okay Steve so don’t tell me it is. It’ll never be okay. Son, you’re still affected by it-“

“I’m dealing with it, okay? Leave it alone now.” Steve snapped

“Dealing with it? Steve you’re still scared of hospitals and doctors, someone so much as mentions any testing on you and you almost get a panic attack. You’re not okay, and you won’t be until you let someone help you.” Tony took Steve’s hand in his own, looking at him with pleading eyes

“I talk to sam.” Steve muttered

“Sam is amazing but he’s also your friend. Sometimes, an outside perspective can be helpful. Besides, Sams to busy to help you now.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You have an entire year, use this time to help yourself Steve. Bucky getting the help he needs, it’s your Turn now.”

Steve thought for a long moment before making his mind

“Fine I’ll talk to a therapist, but I have a condition, you’ll talk to someone too.” Steve said

Tony grimaced. Its been a while since he’s done that but if it meant Steve would get the help he needs, then he’d do anything

“Deal.”

————

“No way.” Steve said firmly

Tony sighed, massaging his temples

“Is it really necessary Ross?” He tiredly asked the general

“If you want the public to accept Captain America again we must give them a reason to do so” Ross said not even trying to hide his smirk, that evil bastard

“So you want me to do this?” Steve asked incredulously

“You’d be helping shape the youth of the country, how bad is that?”

“It’s like the USO tours all over again. Actually no, this is so much worse.” Steve muttered

“Along with house arrest you were sentenced 120 hours of community service. This is how we accept your services.” One of the senators in the room said

“I’d rather tie myself to an exploding rocket.”

Ross looked like he momentarily agreed with Steve, but then he caught Tony’s murderous expression an decided not to voice that

It took a while but Steve finally agreed to shoot the PSA videos

“I’m sending Harley the first copies” Natasha proclaimed gleefully once she recovered from laughing so hard once she saw the videos “I gotta say, the puberty one is my favourite.”

“I hate you.” Steve said

“You looked so cute in that old uniform, Phil would be proud.”

“Go away.”

“I mean the irony of the whole thing!Giving lectures about detention two months after you went against 117 countries.”

“Kill me now.” Steve groaned when he was told the videos had officially Been included in school curriculum all over the country

“I can’t believe you actually made those videos!” Kate yelled as soon as he answered her call

“Hello to you too.”

“Like I ever say hi to you. Seriously though, what possessed you to make videos about following the rules? You hypocrite.”

“My spirit guide appeared in my dreams and pointed me toward the path of enlightenment.” Steve deadpanned

“Community service?” Kate asked “they forced you didn’t they?”

“Ya think?”

“It couldve been worse.” Kate reasoned

“How? How could it be worse? Sending me to fight an alien army would be a million times better.”

“Cute uniform. Makes your ass look great.”

“Excuse you, my ass always looks great.”

Steve could practically hear her roll her eyes

“Harley and Peter have been calling it America’s Ass.”

“Damn right it is.”

“You definitely are and ass.”

Steve huffed a laugh “How did you even find those videos ? There for school kids not colleges.”

“Its on YouTube. They’ve become the most liked videos overnight.” Kate said

Steve groaned “Seriously, kill me now.”

Kate laughed. They talked for a while about her classes and other mundane stuff, taking Steve mind off everything for a while

“I gotta go now, class in five minutes. Love you, bye.” She said quickly

“Aaaw, you love me.”

“Get over yourself jerk.”

“That’s more like it. Now go to class, shoo.”

—————-

Once Natasha left to wakanda again, Steve was truly alone in the compound. Even Pepper was out of the city, busy with conferences and took Morgan with her. Tony was visiting Dr. Strange for some research work and Steve was alone at the compound with no one but DumE for company and completely bored out of his mind

And then came peter

“Hey Queens, fancy seeing you here so late.” Steve said when the boy entered the common room “Dads not here so you’ll have to come back later.”

“I didn’t come here for Mr. stark.” Peter said quietly

Steve sat up and looked at Peter. The usually exuberant teen was oddly forlorn today

“What with the long face?” He asked

“How do you do it?” Peter asked after a while, looking at Steve with red rimmed eyes

“What?” Steve asked “Pete is this about a mission? Are you hurt?” He immediately looked the boy over, trying to spot any injuries

“It’s- it’s not that.” Peter said “Not a mission, just some kids at school.”

Steve frowned and sat back, waiting for an explanation

“I mean I try to ignore them you know, but it gets hard sometimes. I don’t want to worry May with all this, god knows she’s been through enough. I - I try to be brave, but I can’t all the time.” Peter choked

“Hey, listen, we’re all scared sometimes. There’s. I thing wrong with that. Bullies are the worst, I hate the too. I was bullied a lot in high school as well.” Steve admitted

“They hate me.” Peter muttered, his head hung low

“No, Peter no one who knows you can hate you. They’re probably jealous of you-“

“No, they hate me. Everyone thinks I’m some sort of a freak.” Peter said “It’s not my fault I wasn’t born the right way is it? It’s not my fault I was born in the wrong body.”

Steve stiffened when he finally realised what Peter was saying. It made sense why the kid specifically seeked him out

“Oh Pete.” He said and hugged peter tightly. Peter buried his head in Steve shoulder and held onto him like a lifeline

“It’s okay Pete. I know it’s hard and I know it hurts, but what they say doesn’t matter. You have an aunt and a whole team who love you for who you are. I promise this won’t matter to any of us. It won’t change how anyone looks at you.”

Peter didn’t say anything but after a while, he stopped shaking so much

Steve felt angry at how broken the boy, who in all senses had become his brother in everything but blood, had become

“If Nat or Kate or Wanda or even Loki found out about this, they’d probably give hell to those bullies.”

Peter let out a wet laugh when he heard that

“I’m not cruel as to sic them onto even my worst enemies.” He said

“True, the girls on the team are scary enough as it is, together they’re just plain formidable. Adding Loki to the mix is just the cherry on top isn’t it?” Steve said

Peter smiled gratefully at the diversion he was offering

After that day, Steve was no longer truly alone at the compound. Peter came by almost everyday to keep him company

When Steve Told Tony about Peters secret Tony immediately improved the binder he’d once made for Steve and sent it to him. He then contacted May and looked into medication and surgery for later, telling her SI covered medical bills of all employees including interns, which was true any way

Peter was happy to have found a family like that and bullies at school didn’t even affect him anymore

Even though Steve couldn’t leave the compound, he was there with peter the entire time for his next big adventure

Needless to say, the villains all over New York found out soon enough that messing with Spider man meant dealing with the combined wrath of Iron Man and Captain America

Steve asked incredulously

“You’d be helping shape the youth of the country, how bad is that?”

“It’s like the USO tours all over again. Actually no, this is so much worse.” Steve muttered

“Along with house arrest you were sentenced 120 hours of community service. This is how we accept your services.” One of the senators in the room said

“I’d rather tie myself to an exploding rocket.”

Ross looked like he momentarily agreed with Steve, but then he caught Tony’s murderous expression an decided not to voice that

It took a while but Steve finally agreed to shoot the PSA videos

“I’m sending Harley the first copies” Natasha proclaimed gleefully once she recovered from laughing so hard once she saw the videos “I gotta say, the puberty one is my favourite.”

“I hate you.” Steve said

“You looked so cute in that old uniform, Phil would be proud.”

“Go away.”

“I mean the irony of the whole thing!Giving lectures about detention two months after you went against 117 countries.”

“Kill me now.” Steve groaned when he was told the videos had officially Been included in school curriculum all over the country

“I can’t believe you actually made those videos!” Kate yelled as soon as he answered her call

“Hello to you too.”

“Like I ever say hi to you. Seriously though, what possessed you to make videos about following the rules? You hypocrite.”

“My spirit guide appeared in my dreams and pointed me toward the path of enlightenment.” Steve deadpanned

“Community service?” Kate asked “they forced you didn’t they?”

“Ya think?”

“It couldve been worse.” Kate reasoned

“How? How could it be worse? Sending me to fight an alien army would be a million times better.”

“Cute uniform. Makes your ass look great.”

“Excuse you, my ass always looks great.”

Steve could practically hear her roll her eyes

“Harley and Peter have been calling it America’s Ass.”

“Damn right it is.”

“You definitely are and ass.”

Steve huffed a laugh “How did you even find those videos ? There for school kids not colleges.”

“Its on YouTube. They’ve become the most liked videos overnight.” Kate said

Steve groaned “Seriously, kill me now.”

Kate laughed. They talked for a while about her classes and other mundane stuff, taking Steve mind off everything for a while

“I gotta go now, class in five minutes. Love you, bye.” She said quickly

“Aaaw, you love me.”

“Get over yourself jerk.”

“That’s more like it. Now go to class, shoo.”

—————-

Once Natasha left to wakanda again, Steve was truly alone in the compound. Even Pepper was out of the city, busy with conferences and took Morgan with her. Tony was visiting Dr. Strange for some research work and Steve was alone at the compound with no one but DumE for company and completely bored out of his mind

And then came peter

“Hey Queens, fancy seeing you here so late.” Steve said when the boy entered the common room “Dads not here so you’ll have to come back later.”

“I didn’t come here for Mr. stark.” Peter said quietly

Steve sat up and looked at Peter. The usually exuberant teen was oddly forlorn today

“What with the long face?” He asked

“How do you do it?” Peter asked after a while, looking at Steve with red rimmed eyes

“What?” Steve asked “Pete is this about a mission? Are you hurt?” He immediately looked the boy over, trying to spot any injuries

“It’s- it’s not that.” Peter said “Not a mission, just some kids at school.”

Steve frowned and sat back, waiting for an explanation

“I mean I try to ignore them you know, but it gets hard sometimes. I don’t want to worry May with all this, god knows she’s been through enough. I - I try to be brave, but I can’t all the time.” Peter choked

“Hey, listen, we’re all scared sometimes. There’s. I thing wrong with that. Bullies are the worst, I hate the too. I was bullied a lot in high school as well.” Steve admitted

“They hate me.” Peter muttered, his head hung low

“No, Peter no one who knows you can hate you. They’re probably jealous of you-“

“No, they hate me. Everyone thinks I’m some sort of a freak.” Peter said “It’s not my fault I wasn’t born the right way is it? It’s not my fault I was born in the wrong body.”

Steve stiffened when he finally realised what Peter was saying. It made sense why the kid specifically seeked him out

“Oh Pete.” He said and hugged peter tightly. Peter buried his head in Steve shoulder and held onto him like a lifeline

“It’s okay Pete. I know it’s hard and I know it hurts, but what they say doesn’t matter. You have an aunt and a whole team who love you for who you are. I promise this won’t matter to any of us. It won’t change how anyone looks at you.”

Peter didn’t say anything but after a while, he stopped shaking so much

Steve felt angry at how broken the boy, who in all senses had become his brother in everything but blood, had become

“If Nat or Kate or Wanda or even Loki found out about this, they’d probably give hell to those bullies.”

Peter let out a wet laugh when he heard that

“I’m not cruel as to sic them onto even my worst enemies.” He said

“True, the girls on the team are scary enough as it is, together they’re just plain formidable. Adding Loki to the mix is just the cherry on top isn’t it?” Steve said

Peter smiled gratefully at the diversion he was offering

After that day, Steve was no longer truly alone at the compound. Peter came by almost everyday to keep him company

When Steve Told Tony about Peters secret Tony immediately improved the binder he’d once made for Steve and sent it to him. He then contacted May and looked into medication and surgery for later, telling her SI covered medical bills of all employees including interns, which was true any way

Peter was happy to have found a family like that and bullies at school didn’t even affect him anymore

Even though Steve couldn’t leave the compound, he was there with peter the entire time for his next big adventure

Needless to say, the villains all over New York found out soon enough that messing with Spider man meant dealing with the combined wrath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos

**Author's Note:**

> For more updates, please follow my Instagram page  
:bluebird2479


End file.
